


How To Snare A Life

by xairylle



Category: One Piece
Genre: Demons, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Jinn, Lemon, M/M, Romance, Smut, Supernatural - Freeform, Vampires, incubus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 10:10:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 230,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6280426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xairylle/pseuds/xairylle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Accidentally ensnaring a parasitic sexual demon and being his host wasn't exactly how Law wanted to end his night or his life for that matter. LawLu/LuLaw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Opposite Poles

The night was deep but the night was young. The moon was bright but just not quite right. It was always busy but quiet and dull and empty but still so full. Such was the life of beings that prowl in the darkness. Or at least that’s what he thought.

 

He was perched on the roof, hidden under the shadow of the chimney next to him. He thought he looked like a grasshopper or a very confused spider maybe, with his knees folded up, caging his small and slender body that was curved as he held onto the ridge with his hands between his feet. For some reason, he could feel some uncomfortable twitching from the scar under his left eye. It did that sometimes. He chose to ignore it today. The streets of Dressrosa had better things to offer Monkey D. Luffy than his mediocre scar.

 

He’d just finished hunting. He’d had… three men, three women. Or was that four men, three women? Whatever. He had rushed his feeding because he was too eager to get back to his newfound _hobby_.

 

Stalking.

 

Well, his target wasn’t here yet, but he’d be here soon enough. Luffy had his evening routine memorized by now. This man was a creature of habit.

 

This… Trafalgar Law.

 

* * *

 

Raven hair, an almost permanent scowl, dark rings under his eyes, and two gold rings on either ear. If he had tattoos, he’d be labelled a delinquent at first sight. But he wasn’t. In fact, Trafalgar Law was a student assistant at the university where he’s attending medical school. Kind of.

 

“If Mrs. Giolla yells my full name in the hallway again, I might maim her with a typewriter.” Law sighed, hands in his coat pockets as he walked with two friends with horrible choice of headwear. To his left, Shachi wore what looked like an oversized newsboy cap while Penguin, oh, where should Law even _begin_ with Penguin’s billed hat with side flaps?

 

“Dude,” Penguin laughed from the right, looking at his phone for a bit, and sliding it back in his pocket, “You should be glad your name is Trafalgar Law. Would be worse if your name’s Dick Sexman or something.”

 

“More like where are you even going to get a typewriter?” Shachi muttered, his head turning to follow a girl wearing a short dress as he continued walking.

 

“It’s a figure of speech, dickhead.” Penguin looked at what Shachi was gaping at. Law leaned back a bit to make way for Penguin’s arm as he reached so he could yank on Shachi’s hair. “Law meant he _wanted_ to maim Mrs. Giolla but since he mentioned an obsolete typewriter in his sentence, it meant “he can’t do it”. Get it?”

 

Penguin gestured double quotes with his fingers in the air as Shachi rubbed the back of his head, muttering something too low for any of them to hear.

 

“The library has one.” Law shrugged just to point out that there _was_ a typewriter and that he indeed was just this fucking close to using it as a weapon. For self-defense, of course. Against… noise pollution. But then the mention of the library reminded Law of more work and he’s just had enough of it for now.

 

It was times like those that Law understood how college students turned to smoking. Stress and stupidity. But the idea of lung cancer was more frightful so Law preferred manning up, if one could call it that. He was just thankful he hadn’t been enrolling his full load of units for the past few years because if he had to deal with medical school _while_ working, he’d end up being a serial killer. The last thing he needed during these times was a legitimate reason to carry around a scalpel.

 

“So why can’t we come with you to the cafe again?” Shachi fixed his hat and pulled on the strap of his bag.

 

“Because I’m going there today to _quietly_ get coffee and you’re going to ruin it by ogling Nami.” Law replied, pulling on Penguin so he doesn’t walk into a fire hydrant because he was digging for something in his sling bag. Sometimes, he thought these two would die without him.

 

“We’re just trying to be friends.” Shachi pouted.

 

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re catcalling her or being disrespectful.” Penguin was now opening a small box of pretzels, “We’re just honestly appreciating that she’s a real beauty.”

 

“I don’t care.” Law shook his head as Penguin offered him the open box, “I don’t feel like dealing with your _appreciation_ today.”

 

“Oh, it looks like it’s Trafalgar Law leave-me-alone day.” Shachi said casually, sticking his hand in the box before Penguin even offered, “Sometimes, it feels like you have a period or something, you know what I mean?”

 

“I don’t know what you mean because I’m not an idiot like you.” Law slapped the back of Shachi’s head, causing him to drop a pretzel to which Penguin laughed as they stopped at a pedestrian crossing.

 

“Are you _sure_ we can’t come with you?” Shachi was chewing as he spoke.

 

“Leave me alone.”

 

“Aww, don’t we get a hug before we go?” Penguin titled his head, extending his arms at Law in invitation to which his friend responded by flipping a middle finger. Both Penguin and Shachi laughed and waved.

 

“Yeah, fuck the both of you.” Law nodded as he took one step to join the wave of people crossing the street, “Try not to die so I can see you tomorrow!”

 

“Okay! Bye, Dick Sexman!”

 

* * *

 

What was taking him so long?

 

Luffy leaned forward eagerly yet impatiently, eyes turning into a bright shade of grey, which was ridiculous because grey was dull, never brilliant. And grey didn’t like light, but it looked good in the dimness of shadows where he watched humans walk and stand and go about their business. They couldn’t see him. Or at least most of them can’t. It was thanks to the buildings and rooftops and activity down there. It was also thanks to humans’ common lack of sixth sense.

 

Tonight, the wind was cold but somewhat dry, not that he cared because if he did, maybe he’d wear a shirt. But, well, short blue trousers and a yellow sash to keep it in place was enough. Besides, who needed shirts if he had cool tattoos? He had swirls and spikes and flame-like symbols all over his torso and down towards his arms, his hands, and fingers. His brothers thought his tattoos looked like hearts that made him look like a sissy but fuck them. He had the letters of DEATH on each of his fingers just so they knew he wasn’t shitting around. Ace and Sabo could go fuck themselves.

 

So who cared about shirts? Who cared about footwear even?

 

Oh, maybe _he_ did. He’s here.

 

Luffy’s grey eyes grew wide eagerly. There were several people on that side-walk but there was no way he was going to miss _that_ raven-haired man in a coat walking towards a coffee shop. Luffy wouldn’t miss his presence even with his eyes closed.

 

Trafalgar Law smelled so _nice_.

 

* * *

 

“Oh, heeeeeey, Law!”

 

The singing of the door chimes had not died down and the noise from the busy streets were still seeping into the coffee shop when a cheerful female voice greeted him from across the room. It was late in the evening already and today, there weren’t as many people compared to mornings and afternoons. The Spirale was one of the rare ones that were open up to the wee hours in the morning during weekends and selected weekdays.

 

“Hello, Nami.” Law tried smiling for the sake of being polite.

 

“You’re not with your friends?” She blinked, looking behind him to check if he was with anyone else as she walked around a table, “Shachi and Penguin?”

 

“No, they have things to do.”

Law was not about to explain that he drove them off because he wanted “alone time”. Not everyone understood what “alone time” meant and Law was definitely not in the mood to get into a discussion about it.

 

“Ah, well, college boys sure are busy!” She waved, dismissing the topic, “It isn’t for me. College, I mean. I don’t know, the stress might make me want to claw people’s eyes out.” She made a scratching gesture with her hand.

 

Law laughed a little because he totally understood what that meant. Yes, he allowed himself a little socialization from time-to-time and topics about removing people’s body parts wasn’t an unwelcome topic.

 

“Nami.” a male voice reprimanded and Law looked up to see a green-haired man walking with a tray under his arm, “Keep it down. You know Law doesn’t like being bombarded with such loud greetings.”

 

“Zoro.” Law nodded and Zoro just nodded back, his one good eye squinting a bit before turning back to Nami.

 

“And this is a coffee shop.” Zoro was a bit scarier. Maybe the long scar on his left eye was helping to make him a bit more intimidating,  “You’re not supposed to be chirpy.”

 

“Oh, boo-hoo.” Nami put her hands on her waist, the short fluffy skirt of her maid-waitress uniform (Law didn’t know what it was) bouncing with her bosoms with every step towards Law, “I was just showing him I’m happy he’s here.” She leaned towards him, her breasts almost popping out of her ruffled blouse, “And that he’s always welcome.” Nami looked up and smiled, “Right, Law?”

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Law shrugged. Of course, he was welcome. He was a paying customer.

 

“You mean his generous _tips_ are welcome, you money-grubbing—!”

 

And just like that, Nami proceeded to kick Zoro in the shin without losing an inch of glee across her face. The man managed to cover his mouth in time before he groaned too loudly, glaring at Nami.

 

“Sanji, Zoro’s giving me a mouthful again!” Nami pouted, pushing herself off Law and moving her head so her high ponytail swished gracefully.

 

“Zoro, I told you to be nice to Nami-swan. She’s a _lady_.” A man with blonde hair covering half of his face came out from a door behind the counter, “Oh. Hi, Law!”

 

The green-haired man grumbled something Law decided not to pay attention to. Something about witches and gold-diggers and curly eyebrows on this motherfucking barista.

 

“Sanji.” Law nodded the same way he did with Zoro as he walked over to his usual spot at the corner of the coffee shop. Nami trotted a few paces in front of him so she could remove the reservation sign on Law’s coffee table. It was nothing more but a piece of folded card with the word “RESERVED!!!” scribbled in thick black ink. The cafe didn’t really cater to people reserving seats and Law didn’t really ask for this, but somehow, Nami made sure he had a good seat whenever he came over. It might have been how he tips, sure, but that only meant he’s getting value for his money, right?

 

“So.” Nami watched him remove his coat on his own and place it on the back of the chair. He’d frequented this place long enough for the staff to know he didn’t like getting touched and that he didn’t like having his belongings more than a meter away from him, “You want anything new or just the usual?”

 

“The usual.” Law leaned back on the red chair, “Thanks, Nami.”

 

“Always welcome, hun.” She smiled and turned at her heels, trotting towards the counter to get Law his order. Law absolutely loved Sanji’s cafe mainly because they were attentive to the kind of service their customers wanted. With Law, they were nice, but not touchy. As upbeat as Nami was, she was careful of Law’s personal space and didn’t interact more than what he was comfortable with. Also, Sanji knew _exactly_ how Law wanted his coffee. And that he hated bread. If men had mortal enemies in the form of food, _bread_ would be Law’s. Hands down. And coffee would be his best friend. Maybe.

 

_What do you taste like, Law? What would you taste like?_

 

A voice in his head. A breath against his ear.

 

“What the fuck?” Law pushed himself from the chair, fidgeting but not getting up as he looked around. His hand had flown to his ear immediately because he definitely, _definitely_ felt a cold whisper against his skin. Law looked outside almost out of instinct, but found no one there. Zoro shot him a glance from the other table as if quietly asking if everything was alright. And it was, wasn’t it? Law started feeling his pockets for his phone as if to make it appear that he had suddenly remembered something before people started to think he was going crazy.

 

He was imagining things. He had been imagining things the past two weeks because maybe it’s been so stressful. Maybe his work as a student assistant in the university was taking it’s toll on him. Mrs. Giolla was being an absolute bitch in the art department recently. Her moody attitude was something that came and went but it just coincided with the shit he had to about cataloging the library’s book collection. And the paperwork, oh god. The reports he had to write—yes, student assistant—haunted his dreams. Maybe he needed a break. Yeah. There was no voice in his head. There was no cold breath in his ear. There were no shadows from the corner of his eye. There were no eyes following him.

 

It was just stress and imagination working together.

 

Maybe.

 

Law’s phone started vibrating thanks to a call. Yeah, just what he needed to get his mind off things.

 

“Hello, Cora-san?”

 

* * *

 

Luffy couldn’t see his human from this distance because he didn’t like sitting near the windows, but Luffy could still feel him there. He’s talking. On the phone. Cora-san? Who was that again? Ah, he’d forgotten. He could faintly hear Law’s voice despite being across the street where he tuned out all the other noises around him. He liked how the man’s voice sounded. Low and smooth and manly and nice. And husky? And sexy. Ah, the _things_ he’d like that voice to _whisper_ and pant and oh, oh, _moan_.

 

Luffy licked his lips.

 

“Luffy.” An approaching male voice made the boy twitch, snapping out from his daydream of images of a naked Law lying on the floor. Behind him, two men—one with blonde hair, another with black—landed with ease. His brothers chose the wrong time to find him, but no matter. He could always go back to his musings later when he was alone.

 

“Oh, wow, Ace.” Luffy looked at one of his older brothers who was wearing black pair of shorts with large pockets, “You’re not naked. Congratulations!”

 

“He made me wear these.” Ace nodded, his pointy tail swishing back and forth at Sabo who was wearing a goddamn black _suit_ of all things complete with leather shoes. Well, Sabo being a mischievous jinn probably contributed to his constant desire to look proper and different all the time.

 

“Good job, Sabo!” Luffy lifted his hand and his blonde older brother gave him a loud high-five.

 

“Haha, very funny, you two.” Ace frowned and Luffy thought his freckles looked like constellations when he did that, “I don’t understand the need for clothes. Like who the _fuck_ cares if a demon like me wears clothes? Who the fuck _sees_ me?”

 

“The rest of us other creatures, asshole.” Sabo slapped the back of Ace’s head, “I’m not inclined to enjoy seeing your balls dangling between your legs.”

 

“Oh, but you and your little human girl Koala—”

 

“You’re following him again?” Sabo cut off his older brother as he looked at Luffy who was still squatting on the ridge, feeling a bit sorry that Ace was the only one who had a tail among the three of them, “ _Still_? You’ve been at this for... two weeks now.”

 

“Two weeks is playing with your food too long.” Ace stretched and sat beside Luffy and Sabo did the same beside Ace as all three of them looked at the coffee shop below.

 

“I’ve fed already.” Luffy murmured, trying to focus his attention on Law. He wasn’t lying. He had fed quickly earlier so he could resume his stalking, which seemed to have evolved to be the most important and interesting activity of his waking hours.

 

“So? Consume him tomorrow.” Ace said, picking his nose.

 

Luffy shrugged.

 

“What, you’re never going to feed on him?” Sabo asked, turning to Luffy who just shrugged again, “Luffy?”

 

“No. I just… He’s... I don’t know… Not ripe yet.”

 

“Not _what_ yet?” Ace raised an eyebrow, a finger still up in his nose as he looked at Luffy then at Sabo who shrugged before looking back at the youngest, “Humans don’t ripen, Luffy. Did you fucking hit your head wrong or something?”

 

“I’m fi—Hey, fuck, Ace, _no_!” Luffy was quick to scamper back from Ace’s hand that was reaching out for him because he picked his damn nose with it and eww, gross. “I don’t want to feed on him yet! I just like watching him for now!”

 

“Get a front seat then.” Ace leaned back on his palms, legs outstretched on the roof, “Why are you watching all the way from _here_?” Ace then looked at his finger and wiped it on the ridge. Luffy made a mental note not to touch that spot.

 

“Yeah, why not sit next to him and practically smell him.” Sabo wiggled his eyebrows as he looked at the coffee shop. And, yeah, Luffy would actually _love_ to smell Law up close. He did that once. He pressed his nose against Law’s cheek and breathed in for so long, he almost just sank his teeth into Law’s neck had the man not gotten up in a surprised hurry. At first, Luffy thought Law saw him or knew he was there judging by how he just recoiled in the opposite direction, but then he hurried out of the library and straight to the washroom so… maybe he just needed to pee so badly. Still, Luffy didn’t want to take chances.

 

“You could also set the ends of his hair on fire.” Ace snickered. Luffy glared at him. His brother held his hands up in defense and silent sarcastic apology.

 

“Can he see you?” Sabo turned to Luffy and then back at the coffee shop, “Is he _that_ kind of human?”

 

“He kind of feels me, I guess.” Luffy replied thoughtfully, recalling how he’d followed this man around for two weeks. He knew where he lived, the places he frequented, and he knew the basics of Law’s schedule. Except during days and times with glaring sunlight, of course, because Luffy hated sunlight. Well, not really _hated_ . Sunlight was actually nice if only he didn’t fucking scorch his demon skin. It _hurt_ . Not enough to kill him instantly, but god _damn_ , it hurt. He knew because had tried enduring it to stalk Law a bit more and the sunlight caught him and fricken-crickety-crickets, the _pain_ . Vampires had it worse, though. They practically _ignited_ with enough exposure to sunlight. Poor little fuckers.

 

“He feels you.” That was Sabo again, “But can’t see you.”

 

“Yeah, fuck it.” Ace was gesturing something, “Fly down there and cling onto him. What’s the worst that could happen?”

 

“I might not be able to hold myself back if I move closer.”

 

Honestly, Luffy wasn’t sure if Law could feel him or see him. He had become too keen about anything that had something to do with Law that Luffy thought he might be a tad bit paranoid about the man’s sense or lackthereof. But still, he’d rather play it safe.

 

“You care too much for a parasitic creature, you know that?” Ace snorted, but the boy just licked his lips again.

 

“He’s not ripe yet.”

 

“Okay, what in the fucking hell does a ripe human even _look like_ , Luffy?” Ace shouldered Luffy and the younger brother pushed him away, “What does a ripe human _look like_!?”

 

“I don’t know!” Luffy pushed Ace further so that he was pressed against Sabo who was trying to get his balance back while pushing against Ace, “I just know he isn’t ripe yet!”

 

“No one knows when he’ll be ripe yet, you fart!” Ace leaned back against Sabo who elbowed him in the side. The freckled demon groaned loudly, jerking in surprise as he kicked his blonde brother in the leg as retribution.

 

The sound of the chimes from the coffee shop made Luffy snap back to attention, getting up as he tried to pick up on whether or not Law had come out already. And then there he was, earphones on and coffee in one hand as he waved to the cafe’s staff. Nami was seeing him out happily, too.

 

“I have to go.” Luffy waved at his brothers who were still trying to push each other off the roof, “You go on home without me!”

 

Ace yelled something at him that he didn’t quite catch and didn’t really care about. He was too busy stalking his prey all the way from the rooftops. There was no one like this man in Dressrosa or ever in Luffy’s long-lived life. He smelled so, so nice it was almost like a hypnotic spell. Law strode across the sidewalk, talking to whoever-the-hell on the phone, leaning to the right to avoid three chatting girls only to bump into a taller man. Luffy frowned. Law took a step back, recoiling a bit as he held his arm out to keep his coffee from spilling just in case. Luffy glared at the stranger.

 

_Fuck you, watch where you’re going. What if you scratch his face? I will butcher you!_

 

Luffy watched his beautiful human apologize discreetly before going on his way. The taller man stood there for a while and watched Law walk away before shooting Luffy a sharp glare all the way from the sidewalk.

 

Oh? Oh, _really_?

 

_Arrogant little shit!_

 

It wasn’t all surprising to Luffy, honestly, because first of all, this “man” wasn’t really a “man”. He was a lesser vampire from what Luffy could gather with his senses. He had no heartbeat, was cold, and had no life trace whatsoever. He smelled like undead, too. And that brought up the next issue.

 

This vampire could also smell Law.

 

So on a normal night, he wouldn’t give a damn about fodder like him. But tonight, this dumbass had decided he didn’t love himself as soon as he decided to turn on his heels and follow Law.

 

Tss. No matter. He wasn’t the only fucker Luffy’s met that was asking to be murdered.

 

* * *

 

“No. No, it’s fine, Cora-san.” Law adjusted the bud in his left ear as he took a sip from his coffee, “It’s no big deal if Doffy can’t—fine, _uncle_ —It’s not a problem if _that_ _uncle_ can’t. I don’t _ca—_!”

 

Law stopped at his tracks. There it was again. He could feel eyes behind him. Several pairs, this time. He’s not sure how he could tell but he could basically _feel_ the staring making his skin crawl. Law turned around slowly, seeing other people walking, stopping, crossing the street, talking—minding their own business. If anyone was looking suspicious along this sidewalk, it would be Law. Really, he’d love to tell himself not to mind the creepy vibe he got from time-to-time because it was not logical. But the weight of it was so heavy, harsh, frightful, and _constricting_ . It felt like someone was grabbing his limbs before going for his neck. It was creepy how he could almost see hands and... _fangs_ . Bloody, vicious _fangs_. What the hell?

 

“Law?” His uncle’s voice sounded a bit worried, “Law, are you still there? Is everything alright?”

 

“Oh. Oh, yeah, everything’s fine.” Law said, sipping his coffee again, gripping the cup harder as he went on his way, “Walking home. Didn’t bring my car. Can I just call you when I get home? Yeah. Okay, cool.”

 

He felt his fingers tremble as he removed the earbuds and tucked it into his coat pocket.

 

He really needed a holiday.

 

* * *

 

 

He lost him. Luffy lost him. Luffy lost track of a god damned lesser vampire. Not only that, he also lost Law. Well, Luffy could find him but, seriously, he was outpaced by a _lesser vampire_. Fucking _humiliating_. Ace would have a field day poking fun at him for this.

 

Urgh, Luffy’s plan was to mince the low-life before he got to Law at all like how he did to the others who wanted to pounce on his human. But the pest probably slithered into the alley cracks or something like some sort of sewer rat. Whatever. Luffy would get him later. What’s important right now is that he found Law because if that conceited idiot found his human first—Luffy cracked his knuckles and disappeared into the dark alley.

 

Law was stupid. Absolutely stupid. He’d made up his mind that everything was just his imagination, right? He was just stressed and needed a break. The lack of sleep was giving him paranoia. He was kind of a medical student so he was supposed to know what sleep did to the body so why the hell did he end up taking winded detours in weird alleys? To lose his pursuer? What pursuer? There was no pursuer! There was—

 

“Ow!”

 

Law was walking too briskly that he almost fell on his bottom upon bumping into a person that was sturdy enough to have been a wall. His coffee wasn’t so lucky, though, as it flew into the air, contents spilling mid-flight before it bounced on the pavement, the faint echo of cardboard against stone reminding Law of desperation for some reason. He shook his head a bit, trying to reorient himself. He wasn’t sure if the collision was that strong or if his head had been going in too many paranoid maze-loops for the past few minutes that he couldn’t even figure out what’s here and now.

 

“Ah.” Law rubbed his temple, “Sorry about that. I’m—”

 

“Law, right?”

 

Law looked up.

 

It was the man he had bumped into earlier.

 

“Excuse me?”  
  
“Your name.” The man said lowly before pointing to something on the floor, “That’s your name on the cup, right?”

 

Law blinked for a while and looked behind him, his eyes following the trail of spilled coffee towards the paper cup that was rolling into the dark. Did it have his name on it? Did it—

 

“GAAGH!”

 

The heavy, rough fingers on his neck told Law it didn’t matter. His vision swayed like thunder hit his brain as he felt himself crashing into something—garbage, crates, a wall, he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t even tell if he was standing up or lying down or inclined or knotted like a pretzel. His legs were kicking, but his feet weren’t touching the ground. He tried to wriggle free, but his movements were heavily restricted. He thought he heard a cracking sound followed by pain from his right side and oh, dear god, was his shoulder dislocated? Broken? _Gone_?

 

“Ggghk!”

 

Air suddenly gushed out of Law’s lungs. He wasn’t sure why and maybe that didn’t matter either because now there was a large hand clamped over his jaw. Was his skull getting crushed?

 

“Mmmfff!”

 

Something heavy slammed against Law’s chest and his body tried to yell in pain, but that seemed futile, too. It was only at this point did Law’s eyes actually reconnect with his brain so that he could process the image of the older man in front of him, holding him by the jaw with one large hand with pinning him to the wall with his own massive body. He had blonde hair, tanned skin, a square jaw, and a crescent scar on the left side of his face. He was sure those wide eyes with bright, angry red irises that stared right into Law’s soul definitely saw fear and panic. Why else would it— _”it”_ because this wasn’t a man, obviously—smile widely and hungrily, baring fangs.

 

 _Fangs_!

 

Holy fucking—!!

 

“Fuuuuck yooooouuu!!” It was a different voice, a younger voice, sounding like a delinquent Tarzan swinging from vines and Law wanted to kick himself for having stupid imaginary shit in the middle of a crisis.

 

And then suddenly there was a crash and then the man’s body was gone, tumbling to one side like a badly made human bowling ball knocking over trash cans and boxes and bottles and whatnot before he was stopped by a dead lamp post. Law fell to one side as the thick fingers tried to hang on to his jaw and drag him along, but something grabbed Law by his torso and quickly drew him away from the horrible monster that wanted to eat him.

 

“Not in the pretty _face_ , you asshole!”

 

“What the hell…” Law’s head hurt. Actually, _Law_ hurt. Everything about him was either too confused or too pained to function. There were small, slender, but seemingly strong arms holding onto him and then putting him down on the pavement so he could sit awkwardly. And awkward was better than decapitated any day.

 

The contents of his coat had scattered everywhere. Those were probably his coins and that was definitely his pen. From a distance, he could see his phone’s screen lit up. Where was his wallet? Thank goodness he wasn’t with Penguin and Shachi or he’d have more shit to worry about aside from himself and his belongings.

 

A loud bang made Law fidget and his body’s immediate reaction was to get up and run, but given the state of his physical and mental condition, all he could do was scamper backwards uselessly. The big man had just roughly emerged from the pile of junk he had crashed into earlier and was now growling at Law’s direction, but not _at_ Law. And it was only then that he actually noticed that the new creature—he didn’t want to assume this new guy was human—that joined in was a boy that looked no older than twenty. He was shirtless and barefoot, wearing short blue trousers with a bright yellow belt sash. Law was momentarily distracted by the swirl of ink on his back and arms until big guy growled loud enough to make Law yelp.

 

“It’s cool. Stay behind me.”

 

The boy’s hand reached for Law to check if he was still there and then fucking _hissed_ like an angry tiger at the big man-monster-creature. “Cool” wasn’t exactly the word to describe the situation, but everything had lost it’s meaning for Law. The words “normal” and “real” were the first to throw themselves to oblivion. Nothing was real. Nothing was proper. And this had to be fucking _Narnia alley_ or _else_!

 

“What does a demon want with my prey?”

 

The big guy spoke first, his large tongue sticking out distastefully and Law couldn’t remember if that was the same voice he had when he spoke to him about his name earlier.

 

“Don’t play dumb.” The boy next to him growled back, lowering his stance so he could jump any time, “You know I was stalking him first.”

 

Okay, _what_ ? So this kid wasn’t on his side either? Great, so Law was in a dark alley with two violent creatures that were fighting over who gets to eat him. “Stay behind me”? Big fat _nope_!

 

Law scampered further back, trying to get up so he could run as fast as his wobbly legs could take him. A good plan in theory if only his legs had enough strength to support him. All he managed to do was get up slightly and stumble backwards, causing the smaller monster to look at him, “Law!”

 

Why the fuck did these abominations know his name!?

 

“Law, I told you to—!”

 

Just before Law could hear the rest of that sentence, a buzzing noise caught his attention and in an instant, he was staring back into red ferocious irises of the bigger creature from the heap of trash. What? When did he move? Law opened his mouth to shout but the horrific face was gone like a blur in a fraction of a second.

 

What happened? What happened? What was happening!?

 

The younger creature with fangs seemed to have tossed the bigger one. The dead lamp post shook from the impact of the large body that rammed into it, denting it this time. Law wanted to crawl further back but his body wasn’t responding anymore. Maybe he deserved an award for not having soiled his pants in the middle of this fiasco. And then the boy turned to him, irises red, fangs prominent, and eyebrows knotted with an exasperated expression and sighed, “Baby, _please_.”

 

Baby _who_ ? Please _what_?

 

Pet names and requests obviously had to take a back seat compared to the large trash bin that was now about to crash on them.

 

“Holy shit!”

 

“Urgh. Stupid vampire…!” Was what Law thought he heard last from the boy before he held out his fist to effortlessly send the trash bin back to where it came from. It hit the large monster right in the face with a bang loud enough to make Law wince as the huge creature fell back, back hitting the pavement and disturbing more trash that Law couldn’t properly see in the dark.

 

The smaller monster-in-human-visage next to Law turned to his larger bestial enemy and growled, “Look, I don’t want to kill in front of him so I’m giving you the chance to leave now.”

 

The larger man was slowly getting up, a generous river of blood flowing from an open gash on his head. He wasn’t looking any fazed, but he was obviously less intimidating.

 

“But if I ever see you again, I swear, I’m going to tear you apart.”

 

The man glared beyond a veil of red.

 

“Now, go.”

 

There were a few moments of awkward silence and then some more growling.

 

Was there going to be a round two?

 

“I said go!” The smaller creature hollered and in an instant, the bigger monster was gone.

 

Okay. So the smaller one won that brawl rather one-sidedly and Law surmised that if he couldn’t do anything against the weaker one, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to scratch _this guy_ . So he should run. But his legs felt like jelly trying to cling on thin wire so running wasn’t actually _doable_ , but fighting was absolutely _not_ an option because Law wanted to _live_.

 

“So, um… I’m…” the small devil monster was rubbing the back of his neck as he turned to Law, “Are you okay?”

 

What, was the _predator_ checking on his prey? Law didn’t really know how to respond to that because his brain was still trying to pick itself up from all over the alley. He was sitting rather awkwardly, his coat falling off one shoulder and the top buttons of his rather tight shirt torn right off to reveal much of his chest, which was borderline “ _too much”_ for Luffy. The demon stared at the human’s chest hungrily, trailing up his neck, his jaw, his mouth, and then finally his eyes.

 

Law’s eyes were fixed on him.

 

Actually _looking at him_.

 

“I…”

 

Whatever Luffy was going to say, it was not as important as listening to the sound of Law’s breath as his chest heaved up and down. He could hear his heart beating so fast and loud and Luffy knew he was still in fear, but he just wanted to drown in the sound of the drumming in the man’s chest. He smelled so enticing, so real, so _alive_.

 

Ah, was this the time? If Luffy just wanted to, he could simply… just…

 

The human tried getting up slowly and he looked really tired and trembling, but his eyes were on fire and refused to give up. He was scared a bit, but not as much as other humans who’d have been crying and begging and pissing during the first few seconds of the ordeal. But Law was staring right back at Luffy as if figuring how to escape and oh, wow. A _chase_. Wasn’t that exciting?

 

Luffy licked his lips.

 

Law didn’t need anyone to tell him what that meant. That meant _dinner_ . And dinner was _Law_. He took a deep breath and moved his leg to take one step back.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Holy fucking shit, the voice came from behind him!

 

Shock was one thing the human body couldn’t deal with properly unless properly trained to do so. Law was discovering how true that was right now as he wobbled, keeping himself from taking that step back towards his small predator who was _suddenly_ right behind him, almost breathing down his neck. So, no. Backwards was _not_ the way to go. But although his mind had been pieced together to think better, the rest of his body was still uncoordinated from the surprise of two unknown creatures who just fought over him to eat. Law stumbled forward, trying to regain footing, feeling like a baby giraffe that was trying to learn to walk and failing as he felt himself falling face first. He braced himself for impact and a bloody nose to say the least, but no such thing came.

 

Because the little monster caught him from the front.

 

“Hi.”

 

Law looked up before he could stop himself and came face-to-face with a wide grin with very prominent fangs. The boy’s large, round, red eyes were expressive of hunger and eagerness as they stared right back into Law’s grey ones. It made him feel vulnerable. Law didn’t like that one bit. He needed to get his shit together.

 

“Fuck.”

 

Law pushed himself away from the demon, doing his darnest to keep his limbs coordinated but instead he went careening towards the dark, cursing with each lumbering step until two hands grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the cold, hard wall. Law winced, stabbing shocks of pain jolting from his already injured shoulder as he slid down to sitting position. He could hear the small demon hiss appreciatively above him, sliding back down with him, his small hands pinning his wrists above his head. Law opened his eyes. True enough, it was dark, but maybe not dark enough to conceal those crimson, hungry eyes that were boring a hole through Law’s persona.

 

“No…” He struggled, but the small creature was so much stronger. He tried kicking and sure, those hit, but that didn’t even make his attacker budge. Law wasn’t sure if his kicks were too weak or this young-looking monster was too strong. He assumed it was both.

 

“Yes.” the word uttered above him was more of a low, guttural noise, “Fuck, yes.”

 

The boy opened his mouth, managing to look so smug with those fangs looking more and more vicious with every passing moment. No. Law refused to go down like this. No, he can’t die here. He mustn’t die here.

 

But how could a man fare against a monster?

 

Everything had a weakness. There had to be something. Hurry. Think. Think. _Think_!

 

Law’s eyes searched frantically, running down from those red eyes—he had to stop looking at those—to his jaw, his neck, his chest, his tattoos. His tattoos. And it was like a gate was broken open somewhere in the far recesses of Law’s mind so that the swirls and lines seemed to be talking to him and saying something. They were like letters forming words forming thoughts with a gush of information like water from a broken dam.

 

 _Luffy_.

 

Luffy.

 

This demon’s name was Luffy.

 

“Luffy!”

 

The small body above him shuddered. He was right. That was his name. He was a demon. A parasitic demon. Law didn’t know how he knew. Didn’t care. Didn’t matter. No, not right now.

 

Luffy’s expression changed from smug to insulted, growling and then hissing, baring his fangs to intimidate Law with those glowing vermillion orbs that—No, Law wasn’t going to drown in those eyes again.

 

“No!” Law glared as fiercely as he could and Luffy roared harshly at him.

 

“Get off!” The man struggled the best he could but the strong hands kept him in place, “Get off me, Luffy!”

 

Apparently, the demon didn’t like his name being said the way Law was saying it judging by how it was aggravatedly gripping his wrists. Law didn’t really know what he was doing but this _Luffy_ now looked like an animal that’s trying to fight back instead of a predator on the hunt. He was less intimidating and Law felt a bit more powerful than he was earlier. He must be doing something right if this thing was slowly considering him a threat, not just a helpless prey.

 

“Luffy, I said get off!”

 

“No!” His eyes were wide, irises almost flaming with rage, “I’m not going anywhere! You’re _mine_!”

 

“I am _not_!” Law struggled against the tight fingers that held his wrists, “Get off me, I said!”

 

“No!” Luffy spoke with a tone of finality, raising his head and then opening his mouth widely so he can take a bite at Law’s neck to end this once and for all, “I don’t have to listen to you!”

 

“You _will_ fucking _listen to me_!”

 

The dead street lamp started flickering.

 

“And I said _get off_!”

 

There wasn’t a sound of explosion, not a hint of fire or ash, but it felt like something burst between them. Luffy was sent flying away from Law, hitting the wall ahead before falling and rolling on the pavement. Law, on the other hand, was sitting there, disheveled, tired, and somewhat bleeding, but alive. And that’s what’s important, right? Right.

 

And he had to move now if he wanted to stay alive.

 

Law tried to get up clumsily, trying to fix his clothes haphazardly as he looked at Luffy. He was still lying unmoving on his stomach and face down on the street.

 

Was he dead? Had he killed him? Well, Luffy tried to kill _him_ , Law thought as he frantically picked up his phone, which was thankfully lying a few paces from him. It wasn’t his fault if he had killed this… _Luffy_. He was just defending himself. No sense feeling guilty or… Never mind.

  
And Law hurried out of the seemingly long alley, leaving Luffy still lying on the ground next to the street lamp that was now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much thanks to rei-the-rat from Tumblr for listening to me complain and whine about this fic while actually reading its very long draft.


	2. Familiarity

 

It was probably thanks to his disheveled appearance, ragged breathing, and instructions to just "Go, go! Hurry! Just _go!_ " after naming his destination that made the cab driver look suspiciously at Law when he got in the car. His stop was less than around a ten-to-fifteen-minute drive away (Maybe? He wasn't sure with his previous detours via those alleys.) so who _cared_ what this stranger thought? After that supernatural scuffle in that alley and the possibility that Law might have unknowingly killed _something_ in an act of self-defense, the opinion of everyone around him was as valid as a toenail. One way to cope might have been to blame the whole experience on imagination or stress if not worry for one's own sanity. But Law was too smart to chalk up the whole thing on hallucination unless he was on drugs, which he wasn't. In fact, the injury on his shoulder—Law reached for his right shoulder—oh.

It didn't hurt.

Huh?

"Hey." the cab driver was looking at him via the rear view mirror, "Here we are."

"Oh." Law looked up to see his small townhouse. "Oh, yeah. Wait, I…" Law felt his pockets and only now remembered that he had lost his wallet. Aww, fuck.

"Okay, so…" Law began and the cab driver seemed to have gotten an idea of what Law was going to say as he turned to look at his passenger in the backseat, "I lost my wallet back there _but_ —" Law stressed the last word, holding up a finger as soon as the man started to make a face, "I want you to wait for me here so I can get money from my house and pay you. Got it?"

"Like I have a fucking choice." The man grunted, rubbing his beard and looking at Law from head to toe like a silent warning. The young man stepped out of the car. _Please_. He just had a god damn encounter with creatures with _fangs_. This cab driver's bitch fit about waiting a few minutes for his payment meant shit and was not even going to make Law blink.

The first step towards his house was somewhat relieving and Law had to keep himself from running to it. At this moment, he was thankful that he was living in a _house_ instead of unit in an apartment complex. He'd heard of tales of hassles with broken elevators and having to take the stairs would be a bitch. Those were two things Law couldn't deal with without having a mental breakdown or his legs giving out after what had transpired in that alley.

It felt like it took forever to get to the door despite the brisk walking only to find out that he'd lost his keys as well. Fuck. Ah, no worries. He always kept a spare key in a secret spot near the window sill because everyone else left theirs under the rug or near a plant, which was no longer a secret if everyone else knew it.

The door opened with a click and Law stepped into his living room after immediately flicking on the switch. The sudden light made him squint, but he'd take that than stumbling over furniture, thank you very much.

Now, to get money.

Law walked towards the drawers near the stairs and checked if he'd stashed some change or whatever. He found forty Beri. Okay. The young man quickly walked out to the waiting cab driver.

"How much do I owe you?" Law spoke a bit breathless from running here and there.

"I have a Thirty Beri flat rate." The cab driver responded, holding out his hand and gesturing for Law to hurry. Law just handed him forty via the passenger side window and told him to keep the change before heading back into his home else a giant bat might swoop down and take him away.

After locking the door behind him and tossing his coat onto the sofa, Law started up the stairs, deciding to skip dinner so he could just throw himself onto the bed and sleep everything off. People say there's no place like home. Law couldn't have agreed more at this point. He couldn't remember a single instance in his life where he felt _this glad_ to be home.

It was like he had forgotten what it was like being in front of his bedroom door. Law sighed, yanking his shirt open, not caring if the rest of the buttons just popped off because he wasn't keeping this piece of clothing and its memories anyway. Too bad, he kind of liked this shirt, but better lose the shirt than keep the trauma, he thought as he shrugged it off.

God, he needed to lie down quick.

Law entered his room, not even bothering to turn on the lights and immediately closed the door behind him. He was too tired to do any more unnecessary shit. He tossed his shirt to one side, unbuttoned his pants, and just literally let himself fall on the bed.

"Ow!"

Fuck, who was that!?

He fell on something. He fell on someone! Law sprang back and away from his bed so fast, he had switched on the light before he knew it. He almost wished he hadn't. In fact, he should've just ran out of his bedroom and called the cops.

Help! A demon that tried to kill me earlier had followed me to my home and is now sitting on my bed!

Law wished he was dreaming, but he wasn't. The little shit was sitting in the middle of his bed, hugging one of his pillows as he wore his blanket like a veil. Again and again, over the short course of three seconds, Law was trying to tell himself to wake up from this horrible, horrible dream, that there was no monster on his bed, and he was just imagining things. But those big dark eyes gawking at him weren't making things easier. The logical thing to do at the moment was to run, but Law's brain had been rattled too hard and thought the best option was to holler.

" _What the fu—!_ "

"No, wait, wait, wait, no, baby, let me explain!"

Luffy had jumped out of the bed as soon as Law opened his mouth, the blanket trailing after him like a cape. If this little monster thought he was just going to stand there to openly and helplessly be pounced on and minced then, no, sir. _No_. Law immediately turned to run out the door but then suddenly, Luffy was in front of him, blocking the doorway.

"Let me explain!"

Curse demons for being so fucking fast! It wasn't fair! Just how _hungry_ was this thing? And why couldn't he just eat other humans? Dressrosa was bustling with people! _Why_ did he have to decide that he wanted Law for dinner? What, was he some kind of delicacy? How did this predator even know where he lived? Well, he _did_ mention stalking, but fuck, for how long had he been stalked?! This explained everything! The eyes, the creepy feeling, the paranoia!

"Stay away from me!"

Law took firm steps back and away from Luffy who just held his hands up.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

The little monster was speaking slowly and Law was having none of it. The urge to roll his eyes was too strong because sure, Law had no fucking reason to _doubt_ this son of a bitch.

"Yeah, sure, _of course_ , I believe you, dimplebuns."

And what do you know? The twerp's face brightened, smiling widely as if relieved, a slight blush painting his cheeks and what the fuck for? Maybe demons blushed when they were hungry. Law was not eager to find out.

"Really?!"

Oh, _god_. Law just did his meanest eye roll because stupid, stupid, _stupid_.

"No!" Law glared, " _Get out of my house!_ "

Luffy winced a bit.

"Look, I _know_ I might have given a bad impression…"

" _Might_!?" Law grit his teeth as he glared harder that it wouldn't be surprising if he started to shoot laser beams from his eyes, " _Might_ is an understatement, mister! You can go ask my injured shoulder!"

Law grabbed his shoulder, which no longer felt injured, but he wasn't going to say that.

"Law, I…"

"I said _get out_!"

Law pointed towards the window as he yelled, his voice a bit hoarse towards the end. Luffy squinted, visibly hurt as he bit his lip and moving back a bit as if anticipating that Law would hit him. Maybe he should have. But he felt it unnecessary so he continued to stand there, waiting for any reaction from the small monster as Law continued to point out like a silent, continuous insistence of what he wanted to happen.

"I… I'll get out, Law. I will!" Luffy kept his arms raised to show he meant no harm as Law's own arm slowly relaxed, "I promise I will, just…" He paused, eyeing Law from head to toe, "I just came to get back what's rightfully mine…"

Oh, Law had heard that already.

"I told you, _I'm not yours._ "

"Yeah, well, I didn't mean _you_."

The man furrowed his eyebrows. What did he mean then?

"I meant my tattoos."

His _what_? Law froze. He couldn't have heard that right. There was no way—

"Please give me my name back."

Law kept his frown on and took a deep breath, his lips twisting, unsure what to say or what to do for a while. Logic. Think logically. There was no way tattoos could be stolen and even if they could, Law had no idea how to do so. As for the name being given back, he had no idea either. Like, what, did he mean his fucking birth certificate? Law wasn't sure, didn't care, didn't want to bother to find out. He couldn't have done something that he didn't know was doable… Or something like that. Fuck words. He knew what he meant. The bottomline was that this boy was mistaken and was looking for his shit at the wrong place. Both his tattoos and his name were not here. Maybe he should try asking that big brute he was fighting for food earlier.

"Look, I don't get what you mean, but…" Law held up a finger to gesture something but holy sweet mother of shit, was that a letter on his finger!? Law immediately opened his hand. D-E-A-T-H. One letter on each finger. On both hands. And symbols. Symbols on his hand, on his arm, on his shoulders—oh, dare he check—fuck! Fucking _swirls_ on his chest!

"You also have one…" Luffy was pointing to his back, "...One here."

Law's eyes widened in disbelief but he ran to his bathroom anyway, praying to all the gods and deities and fairies and elves and dwarves and whatever kind of higher power that possibly existed for this kid to be _lying._ But fucking hell, there _was_ a large fricking virus-looking circle with what looked like a god damned smiley fa—Law didn't _care_ what it was!

" _What the fuck are these_!?" The man yelled, hands forming into fists as he tried not to shove all the bottles off the counter.

"Um. My tattoos." Luffy answered from the room and fucking hell, why couldn't he be a little less _dense_! Law glared at himself in the mirror one more time, trying to will away the accursed black swirls on his skin to no avail. This had to be some kind of joke. Law immediately turned on the faucet and started to vigorously soap and wash his hands, but the more he did, the more he realized that his skin was more likely to come off first.

"Motherfucker."

Law's jaw was tightening in tumultuous anger as he breathed heavily, running wet fingers through his hair to clear his head. He splashed water on his face, trying to sort his options, but came up with none. He looked at his reflection again as he turned the faucet off. The tattoos were really _there_. Fucking hell, they were real! How was he to come to work tomorrow!? Mrs. Giolla was going to murder him if not add him to her personal collection of fucked up artwork. Cursing inwardly with every breath, he turned to go back into his room before he could smash the mirror in rage.

"What did you do!?" Law stormed towards Luffy, "What did you do to me!?"

"I didn't do anything!" Luffy had the audacity to look offended and confused.

"Why do I have all these…" Law looked at his hands and arms, extending them as if to show Luffy, " _These_!"

"What do you—" Luffy looked even more confused, "You _took them from me_ , hot ass!"

"I most certainly did _not_!" Law grabbed Luffy by the arm and only then did he notice that, yeah, he didn't have those swirly tattoos anymore. Last time Law checked, tattoos couldn't be removed in such a short amount of time.

"Well, I _most certainly_ didn't give them to you!" Luffy violently took his arm back and poked Law in the chest, "You stole them from me so don't even try to act like the victim here!"

"Says the vicious demon that attacked me earlier!" Law shot back, too pissed to even be scared of the possibility that this boy could literally tear him to bite-sized shreds and use his blood as dip.

"Yeah, well, that didn't mean you had to ensnare me!" Luffy leaned up, meeting Law's furious glare with his own ferocity. Law held his hands up, trembling in annoyance and wanting to just grab Luffy by the hair and shake some sense into him, but didn't, "Luffy, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"What do you _mean_?!"

"I _mean_ …!" Law was _this close_ to just slapping Luffy's stupid expression off his face so he just decided to turn around, close his eyes, breathe, and _think._ Yeah, he should just pause for a while and clear his head and _think_.

Inhale. Exhale. Inha—

"Law."

"Shut up, I'm trying to figure this out."

Luffy mumbled something, but said nothing else. Thankfully.

Now what did he have so far? Luffy had tattoos, which apparently were not part of some _aesthetic_ anything and were actually important to him, but now they were on Law. Luffy claimed he stole them, which he didn't, but they ended up being inked on his skin now for some reason. Whether or not he stole them, though, was an entirely different story. The point was Luffy wanted his tattoos back. If he got them back, all of this would be _over_ and both of them could get back to their lives.

"Okay." Law sighed, opening his eyes and turning back to Luffy, "You just want your tattoos back, right?"

Luffy nodded.

"Fine, just… Just take them back, then." Law extended his arms like that meant something. Luffy just stared with a puzzled look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean take them like… Like, I don't know!" Law scratched his head heavily, "Just… Just take them in the safest way you know how and leave me alone!"

"Uh?" Luffy tilted his head, "I can't do that?"

What?

"Why?!" Law rubbed his temple, "I'm not interested in keeping these, so you can just—"

"I didn't give them to you." Luffy crossed his arms across his chest, "I don't know how you took them from me and I can't get them back. You should know that I've tried calling them back and it didn't work. It won't work since you _took them from me_. Took. Them. From. Me. So you need to free me."

" _Free you_?" Law's shoulders dropped at that preposterous statement, "What, you mean I _trapped_ you here and you can't get out!?"

"D-uh." Luffy put a hand on his hips, "Look, just, undo it. Do it backwards."

"Do _what_ backwards!?" Law literally grabbed his hair with one hand because that proved to be less painful than having to process Luffy's inability to understand the situation.

"The ensnaring, Law!" Luffy made wide gestures with his arms like Law was supposed to understand.

"Luffy, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

And that was the only time that the situation seemed to begin to sink in to Luffy. Took him long enough. Law sighed heavily as Luffy froze with his mouth open, trying to register the last bits of their conversation. Law fell on the bed sitting and crossed his arms as he watched the idiot's mouth open and close, his eyes darting here and there in utmost confusion and disbelief.

"Law." the boy finally said.

"What?"

"You mean to say…" Luffy's eyes slowly moved from looking at the wall to the man on the bed, "...You _can't_ give me back my tattoos?"

Law nodded. Luffy swallowed hard.

"No matter how hard you try?"

Law nodded again.

"No matter how hard I try."

Luffy closed his eyes and breathed in slowly and deeply.

"Law."

This was stupid.

"What?"

Luffy opened his eyes, wet his lips, and, to Law's horror, let out a long, aggravated scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Okay, no, no, _no_! Law got up and immediately grabbed Luffy to cover his mouth and shut him up. He didn't need the neighbors calling the cops on him to add to tonight's list of incidents. He's had enough!

"Luffy!"

Luffy struggled and Law had to almost strangle the small, alarming demon so he could properly cover his mouth before his yelling summoned pandemonium.

"Luffy, shut the fuck up!"

"No! No, I can't! I can't!" Luffy continued yelling, pushing against Law who was, in turn trying to get him to stop moving, which made them look like ostriches trying to dance with each other.

"Luffy!"

The back of Law's knees eventually hit the bed and with the way his legs tangled with Luffy's, the only way to go was down on the bed. Law grunted as they fell, bouncing a bit on the mattress as he tried to shift to a better position had Luffy's elbow not hit the side of his head.

"Ow, watch it!"

Wincing, Law pushed himself up on one arm as he lay diagonally on the bed, feet almost dangling from the edge. Luffy crawled up hurriedly, knees on either side of Law's torso as he looked with wide, panicked eyes at Law, "I can't get my name back, Law!" Luffy grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, "Do you even _know_ what that means!?"

"Not really, but you can tell me without sounding like a damn fire alarm!"

"It means I'm stuck and dependent on you!" Luffy shook him harder, "I'm stuck with you! Stuck, you hear me!? _Stuck_!"

Enough. Enough with this violent agitation! Law sat up and now it was his turn to pry Luffy's fingers off him and shake him to attention.

"What the hell do you even mean!?"

Luffy closed his eyes and shook his head vigorously. Sure, that made sense. Law could definitely understand shit-ass body language like that.

"Luffy, what do you mean _stuck_!?"

The little demon took a deep breath, opened his mouth and yelled, "It means I can't do whatever I want anymore because you made me into your familiar, you insensitive meanie!"

What? Okay, what did that entail exactly? Details. Law needed _details_. But Luffy kept talking, squinting suspiciously.

"You're my sole host. I'm totally dependent on you for survival now."

_Host_. Law did not like the sound of that one bit. Luffy sighed and leaned forward, pressing his forehead on Law's, "I can't feed on anyone but you now, too."

_Feed._ That didn't sound positive _at all_. That definitely, _definitely_ sounded worse.

"What do you mean _feed_?"

The boy knotted his eyebrows and pouted, "How are you this stupid?"

Sorry for not being knowledgeable about supernatural things that he didn't deal with everyday. Maybe Law was sick with the flu when this was taught in school? Stupid demon. Law opened his mouth but stopped whatever retort he had because Luffy's face immediately turned serious, "I survive by getting life essence by drinking fresh human blood and—"

"So you're a vampire?"

"No, I—" The boy paused. His mouth was left hanging for a moment as he studied Law carefully beneath him. Contemplating? Amused? Confused? And then he sighed, somewhat calmer. Law had a feeling that the next few minutes were going to be crucial.

"No, Law." Luffy leaned forward again so that their foreheads were touching and breathily whispered, "But if we cuddle, I'll tell you."

Most. Inappropriate. Time. _Ever_.

"This isn't the time for—!"

"I won't give you any details unless we cuddle." Luffy snickered, a finger slowly running down Law's skin, "Unless you're interested in… _something else_?"

Why this little blackmailing piece of demonic meat from hell!

Law growled, feeling so aggravated that he might as well just grow _fangs_ for himself and engage Luffy in a furious battle once and for all. But, fine. He wasn't going to die from cuddling anyway so Law pushed his newly ensnared demon so they could lie on their sides. Luffy snuggled closer, arms encircling Law's torso and smiling, not even trying to hide that he was, in fact, enjoying some of this shit. Law sighed heavily and—oh dear heavens, let this be a bad dream—slowly wrapped his arms around Luffy who sighed contentedly. Why wasn't it raining fire and brimstone when it was needed?

Uuuuurgh.

_Now_ could he talk?

As if hearing Law's thoughts, Luffy slightly pushed himself away from the man and looked up to say, "Okay. Good. Now sex."

Nnnnnnnope. That's it. That was all Law's patience could muster before he vehemently pushed Luffy off the bed with a startled yelp. Insolent little shit was caught by nothing but the floor and a thud.

"Go fuck yourself!" Law yelled, flipping a middle finger at Luffy despite the boy still being on the floor.

"Did you have to push me!?" Luffy sat up and immediately climbed over the bed, crawling hurriedly on all fours towards Law, "Was that really necessary!?"

"Yes, that was more than just necessary!" Law heavily poked two fingers on Luffy's forehead, "Your inappropriate shit is what's _unnecessary_!"

"It's not unnecessary. It's my _nature_!" Luffy sat up with his arms crossed over his chest as he pouted down at Law, "I'm an incubus!"

He's a _what_!?

Law sat up immediately and moved back and away from Luffy until his back hit the headboard in what seemed to be just fraction of a second. He felt his eyes widen so much, he feared they were going to pop out. _Incubus_ , he said. Those were… Those were creatures that had sexual relations with their prey, right? That definitely, absolutely, unmistakably, certainly, surely, unquestionably did _not_ sound good. It was so _bad_ , it made "vampire" sound much, much better.

"It's not a disease." Luffy kept frowning.

"I _know_ what it is." Law said carefully, trying not to look scared despite his fingers wanting to cling onto the headboard for dear life.

"Then you should know that how you're reacting is _racist_!"

There was a great nagging feeling to check and double-check on Luffy's usage of the word "racist" and his understanding of what "scared shitless" looked like. But. Incubus. Law managed to ensnare a god damn _incubus_. So when Luffy said "feed", did that mean—

"You're joking." Law said lowly, tilting his head away, pushing himself harder against the wall for any chance of sinking into it to escape. A god damned leprechaun would've been easier to deal with.

" _Racist_!" Luffy pointed an accusing finger at Law who just fidgeted.

It wasn't like Law hadn't had sex before. He'd done so with both men and women, and what that said of him was of no importance right now. But it had to be noted that he wasn't kinky and he didn't bottom and—no, these weren't the options he had to be sorting right now.

_Incubus_ , _Law, you have your very own incubus._

Luffy's eyes narrowed at him.

"I can feel your thoughts, hot stuff."

Law took a sharp breath because that was a less embarrassing way of saying "Eek!"

"I haven't been ensnared before, so I could be wrong but.." Luffy touched his chest and looked at Law, "It looks like I have your heartbeat."

Law frantically reached for his own chest and was relieved to find out that there was still a heavily beating internal organ, which was the only thing in the world right now that probably understood just how stressfully panicked Law was. Or was this Luffy's heart? Did they just switch hearts?

"That's still your heart." Luffy said again, "I don't have a living one so..."

"Stop reading my thoughts!" Law glared. So unfair!

"I'm not reading your thoughts. It's written all over your face." Luffy waved his hand at Law, "And I said I _feel_ thoughts. I don't _read them_. Wow, sometimes you're stupid, you know?"

"I don't want to hear that from you!" Law kicked a pillow towards Luffy who just caught it with a laugh. What was so funny? _What_ about this entire topsy-turvy disaster was worth even a smile?

"Luffy, we need to figure out a way to break this bond." Law said seriously, slowly folding his legs back and away from the little incubus.

"Yeah, well," Luffy shrugged, puffing up the pillow he was holding before hugging it again, "I have no idea how and you have no idea how."

His problem-solving skills needed more improvement than the entire human race.

"Don't you know _anyone_ who might have an idea how?"

Luffy made a low sound, obviously thinking as he rubbed his nose against Law's pillow while taking deep breaths. Creepy, Law thought, but he let it go.

"They're not warlocks, but...I think I might know someone who can help." Luffy looked at Law who allowed himself to raise his eyebrows in some sort of relief, "I must warn you, though, they're both silly."

Silly was fine. If Law managed to put up with Luffy for today without actively trying to decapitate him—pushing him off the bed did not count—He'd survive silly if it meant ending this curse.

"Are they human?"

"No." Luffy shrugged, resting his chin on top of the pillow, "But I've known them since I was young so—"

"Great, so where are they?" Law wasn't interested in Luffy's backstory because he didn't plan on a getting-to-know-you slumber party with him tonight. He adjusted himself so he could sit properly, "Can we go to them? Right now is fine. I have a car and—"

"Law, _no_ , you unmannered fool." Luffy waved a finger at him and Law inched back slowly and cautiously. If that finger sprayed aphrodisiac, Law wasn't about to catch it in full force, "We can't do that. It's too late into the night. They're in the middle of feeding and what-shit. And you don't disturb demons when they're trying to feed. Or sleep. You're going to get yourself killed. "

"Oooh-kay?" Law shifted awkwardly as he looked cautiously at Luffy's finger just in case it started growing claws to puncture Law, "So what do we do? Do we call them in advance?"

"Awwww…! You're trying to apply human manners! " Luffy tilted his head and reached to pinch Law's face, "You're so cute!" Law was quick to swat the hands away, "No, Luffy! Answer my question!"

Luffy winced again, going "tsk", and went back to hugging the pillow.

"You don't call demons, baby. That isn't a thing."

Law decided not to comment on being called "baby".

"What do we do then, smartfuck?"

Luffy laughed like he took that as a complement, which it wasn't. Stupid people aren't offended by anything, are they?

"Well, we could go to places they frequent." Luffy buried his face into Law's pillow, "They're bound to show up." He didn't even bother to lift his head when he said that last sentence. Law was beginning to be creeped out with what Luffy was doing to his pillow. Maybe he should tell him to stop.

"And that would be _where_?"

Because what if they frequented _hell_ to cruise the river Styx and drink with Hades? That was not a trip Law was willing to make.

"Well…" Luffy said thoughtfully again, throwing himself on the bed as he continued hugging Law's pillow, "I last saw them at The Spirale…"

Well, fuck.

"I… I know that place." Law nodded. _Sanji's cafe?!_ He was there hours ago. How many prowling creatures were around at one place at the same time!?

"Of course you do!" Luffy started rolling on the bed, squeezing the pillow with both his arms and legs this time, "You're there for coffee almost every day after all."

Yup. Stalker confirmed.

"And you know that _how_?" Law's eyes narrowed. He did not appreciate being followed without his knowledge or his permission. Luffy sighed and sat up to look at the man, "Oh, Law, you..." The smile on Luffy's face was naughty enough to be disturbing as he crawled towards Law, "I've been following you around for at least two weeks."

Law moved back towards the headboard again, feeling trapped by Luffy's small approaching body for some bizarre reason. He felt pinned in place. Weird. Luffy wasn't touching him at all. He was just slowly crawling towards Law who was just sitting there and telling himself to breathe properly and not be distracted by those deep, dark grey eyes that were coaxing him to open his mouth and _pant_.

"I've learned... I've _seen..._ "

Luffy lifted the man's head slightly with one finger under his chin, "...So. Much. _More_."

"I…" Law began to keep himself from swallowing hard, "I need..."

"Yes…?" Luffy tilted his head, drawing closer so Law could now feel his breath and this was so fucking dangerous.

"...A shower."

"Well, I… Wait, a _what_?" Luffy was obviously taken aback.

"I need a shower." It took a large chunk of Law's willpower to heavily shove Luffy off him before hurriedly stepping off the bed. It was like the air in the room became breathable again as soon as he was able to distance himself away from the boy. Fucking hell. That was _dangerous_. Law made a mental note to be much more careful. If Luffy had that effect on him without proper touching, what more could he do if he—Law shook his head as he opened the door to his bathroom. Nope, don't think of it.

"That's kind of a good idea." Luffy said with a yawn, stretching as he stepped into the bathroom, "That alley was icky. I need to rinse."

"Wait, wait, _hold it_!" Law yelled, attempting to grab Luffy by the hair but he was already out of reach, "Luffy!"

"What?" Luffy asked, not even bothering to look as he started to remove his yellow sash.

Oh, no, he won't!

"Luffy!" Law harshly grabbed Luffy by the shoulder so he could turn him around, "What do you think you're doing!?"

The idiot looked baffled.

"I thought we were showering?"

"No, _I'm_ going to shower, Luffy." Law pushed Luffy out of the bathroom, " _You're_ going to go home."

"Ohohoho, _home_?" Luffy laughed before turning around to face Law, tilting his head, and putting a hand on his hip, "Home, you say?"

"Yeah, _home_." Law replied with just as much sarcasm because Luffy wasn't the only one in town who can do that, "We can talk about this tomorrow."

"You have my tattoos. _Here_ is my home."

Luffy punctuated that sentence by pointing heavily at the floor like some sort of politician on a podium.

"Besides." Luffy crossed his arms defiantly at Law, "What do you plan on doing if Bellamy comes back for you?"

"Who?" Law asked, baffled.

"Bellamy. That lesser vampire that _I beat up for you_ , or don't you remember?"

It was almost like Law could hear him say, "God, Law, you're so stupid."

"Luffy, I'm at home." The man sighed, crossing his arms in front of his now tattooed chest—damn it—to mirror Luffy's posture, "Is it or is it not true that vampires need to be invited in before they—"

"What would you do if he burned your house to smoke you out, hm?"

Law opened his mouth to answer but stopped before he could say something stupid like "Call the fire department, d-uuuh". Honestly, he wasn't even sure if there was any truth to vampires needing any invitation so _Bellamy_ might just be able to barge into Law's house and snack on him in the middle of the night. In fact, _Luffy_ got in so why couldn't Bellamy, right?

"Why would he go all the way here?" Law raised an eyebrow, not wanting to have no reply, "There are other humans in Dress—"

"Revenge." Luffy said casually with a shrug, " _I'd_ do it if someone beat me up that one-sidedly."

Law hated to admit it, but that made so much sense. Heck, maybe even Law would burn someone else's house if he suffered a defeat as miserable as getting your head split open with a trash can that got thrown back at you. But then Law knew he had no chance in hell of defending himself if Bellamy decided he wanted Law as a midnight snack.

"Why would you care?" Law asked again, his arms falling, admitting some sort of defeat, "If I died, you'd be free of this bond, won't you?"

"Because first, you're _my_ human." Luffy stepped closer to Law, looking up obstinately like he was going to punch anyone or anything that was going to disagree with whatever he was saying, "Nothing touches what's mine. _Nothing_." Law lifted his head to nod as Luffy took one step back and shrugged, "Secondly, because we have no idea how we're bonded, there's an off-chance that if you die, I die with you."

Law wanted to comment on how Luffy had his priorities backwards, but somewhere in his head, he realized this meant Luffy's honor or pride meant more than his life. And that was… admirable?

_No, Law. He's an incubus, remember? Get your mind straight._

"Well, if you're sleeping over, you'd better fucking shower first." Law turned and headed for his drawers so he could get a towel for Luffy. He made sure to get one that was entirely distinguishable so he could throw it away once all of this was over. Who knew where this rat had gone and what kind of viruses he had been carrying?

"Oh, _come on_ , we can just shower toge—"

Law threw the towel at Luffy's face. And Luffy caught it. With his face.

"Drop it." Law stretched as Luffy made a weird sound. Law didn't have to look to know that Luffy was _staring_ at him. Hungrily. God damn it. There was no way he was going to get in the bathroom alone with this guy ever. "I prefer showering alone."

"Well, you can bathe me if you—"

"I'm changing the sheets while you're in the shower." Law opened his other drawers to do get said sheets. He was in the middle of making a mental note to throw away the ones that Luffy had lathered his demon germs on when light fingers started ghosting from Law's abs, trailing up towards his chest. Luffy pressed himself closer from behind, placing a gentle kiss on Law's back. Shit, when did he get so close?

"I'm willing to wait."

Oh. Oh, those lips were soft and that breath was warm and that mouth was a mystery that maybe Law would like to discover? Nope. Nopenopenopenope. _Nope_. Law had to will back images of the insides of a dissected frog to keep his dick from assuming it can use its head to think for the rest of the body.

"Get in the fucking shower, Luffy."

Law elbowed and shrugged him off and Luffy just cursed and slapped Law's back with the towel he was holding. The man wanted to turn and punch the boy in the face, but he was still busy telling his nerves that he was not aroused one bit and that this must not happen again.

"Urgh! You're no fun!" The incubus turned and angrily marched towards the bathroom, grumbling, "You can't resist me forever."

Law sighed heavily. This was a lot more difficult than he thought. Maybe he should consider buying crucifixes and holy water for the sake of his own sanity. Although would that mean Luffy getting hurt would mean _him_ getting hurt, too? Maybe they could get exorcised? Shit, no. Law had seen those movies where people got twisted during exorcism and he really didn't want to come out of this problem looking like a boy scout knot.

"But, you know…" Law's thoughts were interrupted by the voice amidst the sound of spraying water that came from inside the bathroom, "If you decide you want to join me at any point..."

Law looked over his shoulder. Luffy's clothes were on the floor right next to the bathroom door, which was left wide open.

"Shut the fuck up and close the god damn door, Luffy!"

"I prefer showering with the door open, but..." Luffy said, imitating the same tone Law had used on him earlier about showering alone. But before Law could make any comment on it, Luffy stepped right into full view, gloriously dripping wet and glowingly naked. The effect was faster than immediate. Law was instantly fed fifty thousand inappropriate, pornographic mental scenarios of him and Luffy that made him choke on his own saliva.

"See? The things I do for you." Luffy laughed and closed the door.

Law cursed, rubbing his chest and gasping for air. He'd been with this little demon for more or less two hours. Maybe exorcism _was_ a good option.

**-End of Chapter Two-**


	3. Daylight

Morning. It was morning. Law could tell because he could hear the birds and feel the sun. Oh, and breakfast, breakfast, brea—Why was Law feeling so obsessed with breakfast? He groaned, a bit rattled about how his brain was functioning so early in the morning. He wasn’t used to waking up with thoughts as stupid as this, but when you’ve barely survived a battle between a vampire and an incubus and being stuck with the latter as a familiar, which consequently made you lose sleep, thoughts weren’t going to be your favorite thing to _have_.

 

Being with Luffy had been _insufferable_. And that was just for one night.

 

Last night, Luffy had to shower. The naughty incubus thought it would have been a splendid idea to moan loudly about how he was thinking of Law’s cock in his ass while he touched himself. It was so provocatively dirty and downright obscenely _detailed_ . And with Luffy’s wet and naked image still fresh in his mind, Law had no other choice but to run (hurriedly stagger?) to the restroom downstairs to deal with his own _aching problem_ . It didn’t take much. Just a few strokes and his orgasm was hitting him little a truck, harder than how it usually did on his own. Luffy was on his case just a few seconds after that. He was banging on the door, demanding to be let in (“I can feel your thoughts, Law!”), absolutely enraged about how Law should’ve asked _him_ for help instead of “your stupid loser hand”.

 

After thirty minutes of sternly paraphrasing “No, we are not having sex, Luffy”, Law concluded that he was going to get raped if he slept in the same bed with this little devil. Staying up seemed to be a better option. He had a laptop and an internet connection so that should be doable. Besides, this might help him figure shit.

 

_Wrong._

 

A search for more information on incubus eventually landed him on a god damn wiki page for yaoi vampire manga, which did not help his case one bit. The only thing it did was make him half hard. Thankfully, that level of arousal wasn’t enough to wake Luffy who was snoring on Law’s bed, surrounded by all of Law’s four pillows and wrapped in Law’s blanket. He looked so innocent while he slept, breathing softly, muttering a few things from time-to-time. So unlike the debauched boy vocally begging to be fucked.

 

And maybe Law would have, really. He was just a man, after all. But he was a man who was so fucking scared of sexually transmitted demon diseases. Who knew the drastic effects it would have not only to Law’s body, but also to to the inner workings of his _soul_? It had been all thanks to Law’s mental image stash of animal and human innards from medical school combined with an abundant serving of massacre and horror films from memory did he manage to fend Luffy off. Although it still wasn’t easy. So Law decided to mentally stock up on more information on those sexually transmitted diseases and other graphic images. It was essential if he was going to survive another day being the owner of an incubus. And that was what he last remembered before he fell asleep in his chair.

 

Law groaned as he was greeted by the pain from his back, his shoulders, and his neck. He’d fallen asleep sitting on his chair, arms on either side and his head thrown back. It was normal for him to be grumpy in the mornings before he had coffee, but right now, he was confusedly grumpy-horny. Regularly having to start the day like this was probably how people woke up being tyrants with plots of world domination. This planet was a cruel place and everything in it should just suffer and burn.

 

Ah, Law was definitely not in the right mind to go to the university for either work or class today. Fuck it.

 

Law yawned, trying to blink away the tiredness and the sleepiness. It wasn’t the first time he was without sleep. It’s just that back then, it was on sound, believable reasons. With another groan, Law outstretched his legs followed by his arms as he sat up. He blinked again upon realizing that a blanket that wasn’t there before he went to sleep was now slowly falling off from being draped on his shoulders. He was too tired to think anything of it and just stood up, putting aside his now hibernated laptop. Behind him, his bed was disheveled and empty. The bedroom door was also wide open.

 

Where was Luffy? Was he gone? Was everything a bad dream? Tattooed fingers told him otherwise. That kid better not have turned his house upside-down, Law thought as he put his blanket on the bed.

 

With the plan of having twice his normal dose of caffeine, Law headed downstairs and thought he heard Luffy talking to someone. But Law lived alone in this house. Who was Luffy talking to? Unless he’d invited his other demon friends over? For what? _Breakfast?_ The thought of having to eat breakfast with a group of supernatural misfits made Law jog a bit faster down the stairs. He was already on the last two steps when he realized he was shirtless. He wasn’t able to shower the night before. No wonder he felt grimy.

 

“No, we’re doing this ourselves.”

 

That was Luffy’s voice. Law started towards the kitchen.

 

“This is your third try now. Are you—”

 

A female voice? No one was in the kitchen. It seemed the voices were coming from his small backyard garden. The cupboards were open. Some of the things on the disordered counter (most notably the coffee maker) were missing. What bothered him, though, was the extension cord that he almost tripped over as it trailed out the door that was ajar.

 

“Was it always this difficult to make coffee?”

 

Law’s eyes widened a bit and his eyebrows shot up upon recognizing the voice, which made him take quick strides heading out. Oh. Oh dear. Luffy was interacting with _him_.

 

“Sometimes, what’s easy for some is difficult for others.” Luffy was currently talking like a sage as Law stepped out, blinking at the sudden rays of the sun. “Oh, hey!” Law hadn’t said anything yet, but the boy was quick to zone in and acknowledge him, carelessly shoving whatever jar he was holding to a woman with long black curls so he could run at Law and fling his arms around his neck, “Good morning, sunshine!”

 

Law had no response to that aside from putting his hand on Luffy’s waist, steadying the both of them so they don’t topple over from how the smaller was swinging with glee. He was more concerned with the tall, pale but smiling, blonde man sitting in front of a table with jars, and mugs among other things. And _there’s_ his coffee maker.

 

“Cora-san?” Law moved his head away slightly, but was too distracted by the presence of his favorite uncle to keep Luffy from pecking a kiss or two on his cheek.

 

“Good morning, Law.” the tall man cheerily waved his spoon at Law, “Sorry for the unannounced visit.”

 

“What are you doing here?” Law blinked twice before he turned to Luffy,  “And why didn’t you wake me?”

 

“You haven’t slept because you’re _stubborn_.” Luffy made a face with the last word as he stepped back, hands on his waist, looking like everything had solely been Law’s fault.

 

“It doesn’t matter. You’re not supposed to let strangers in the house.” Law put his hands on his own waist like it was a show of dominance, “What if these people were murderers?”

 

Luffy looked over his shoulder to quickly inspect the visitors before turning back to Law and shrugging, “Even if they were, they don’t look like they’re strong en—Ngah!”

 

“That is not the point.” Law pressed Luffy’s nose hard, pulling a bit so that Luffy had to lean closer. He had to admit, it was fun being able to do this kind of scolding to the little demon, to know that he can actually get hurt by Law’s own hands, “Why would you let people in my house without asking me if it’s okay?”

 

“Ow! Ow!” The boy could not decide whether to flail his arms or stomp his feet, to move forward or to move back, “B-b-but he said he was your uncle!” He gestured to reach for Law’s fingers but the man just pressed harder, making Luffy cry louder and drop his hands.

 

“ _Anyone_ could’ve said they were my uncle and then turned out to be a murderer.”

 

“Then…!” Luffy wrung his arms together, writhing and twisting like a snake that didn’t know what to do, “Then I’ll murder them back before you wake up!”

 

Wrong answer. Logic wasn’t something this boy liked to keep in reserve. Law twisted Luffy’s nose a bit harder, his eyes narrowing.

 

“I don’t like how you’re talking back to me.”

 

“Ow! Ow! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Laaaaaaw…!”

 

Tears started welling up in Luffy’s eyes as he looked up, pouting, cheeks slightly red and puffed, and that was…not what a demon should look like.

 

“Um. I’m sorry, too.” Cora-san’s voice made Law look up and loosen his fingers on Luffy’s little nose, “I didn’t mean to cause you guys trouble.”

  
The tall man was smiling faintly and Law wondered if he was thinner than when they last met. He was as pale as he remembered him although his thick blonde hair had its own way of casting life on his otherwise tired features. It’s good that there wasn’t a lit cigarette sticking out of his mouth this time. Law wouldn’t assume he’d quit smoking, though. He was so hard-headed.

 

“No, it’s fine if you visit.” Law said, finally releasing the teary-eyed boy who rubbed his nose as Law pointed at him, “It’s _him_ that’s the issue.”

 

“Aww, don’t be like that.” Luffy continued pouting, rubbing his nose a bit more before taking Law’s hand to lead him towards the table they had haphazardly set-up, “Look, we were making coffee for you!”

 

The table was much more chaotic upclose, too chaotic for people who were just trying to make something as simple as _coffee_. There were multiple measuring spoons lying around, two or three saucers, and several mugs, among other things. There were ground coffee and granulated sugar on everything plus spills of milk and water on the placemats and the tablecloth. Coffee filters and tissue were also here and there. The only redeeming thing about this whole set-up was that no one thought breakfast needed any bread.

 

Law lifted his hand to shade his eyes from the sun. Why in the fucking hell were these people making coffee outside anyway?

 

“We haven’t been too successful so far, though.” Cora-san laughed, scratching his head with the hand that was holding the spoon.

 

“Shouldn’t you be at home? Resting?” Law looked at the table and then at his uncle who was getting ground coffee on his blonde hair. The young man allowed himself to smile with a sigh and reached out to get the spoon from his uncle’s hand, “What are you doing here so suddenly?”

 

“Well, you didn’t call back.” Cora-san shrugged as he brushed the ground coffee off his hair, “And you’ve been unreachable ever since. It was very unlike you so I was worried.”  


“Oh yeah…” Law stopped to glare at Luffy who was tugging at him, but realized the boy was trying to make him sit on a chair he had pulled out. The man sighed and let Luffy shove him on the seat so he could continue talking, “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to… It’s just…” Law scratched his head. He didn’t have an excuse and it wasn’t like he was going to be flat out honest about the whole a-vampire-attacked-me-and-I-accidentally-ensnared-the-incubus-who-saved-me incident. He also wasn’t sure what Luffy had told him yet.

 

“Luffy said he thinks you dropped your phone while you were on the way home.” Cora-san said, “Do you need to have it fixed or did you lose it?”

 

“O-oh…Yeah, I… bumped into a guy and dropped it.” Law looked up, unsure if he should look at Luffy to see what face he was making, but he couldn’t search for him without looking too suspicious about it, “I didn’t lose it. It’s in my coat pocket. But, yeah, I dropped it. I’m going to see if it can get fixed.“

 

It wasn’t a lie. He wasn’t really lying. At least that’s one thing. But the conversation needed to go somewhere else than what happened last night.

 

“But did you have to go out here yourself? Are you even well enough to travel?” He asked instead as Luffy pulled another chair next to Law’s. He felt a little guilty that his mishaps had made his sickly uncle go on the road just to check up on him. And now that he’s here, he couldn’t even give a proper reason for not calling back.

 

“I don’t trust your doctor all that much, really, but did he say it’s okay for you to go out?”

 

Times like this made Law wonder if it was indeed a good idea not to rush his medical studies. It’s just that… Law jerked upon realizing he had put his hand on a wet spot on the table. He frowned, eyes searching for a table napkin he could use to wipe it off.

 

“It’s fine. Vergo drove me here with Fai.” His uncle pointed to the young woman next to him. It was only then that Law acknowledged the presence of his distant cousin who was holding their uncle’s thick black feather coat.

 

And was that a sugar jar in her hands?

 

“Oh, yeah.” Law put down the spoon that he took from Cora-san earlier, “Baby Five.”

 

“What did you call her?”

 

Law was about to ask where Vergo was but the quizzical tone made everyone turn to Luffy. He was kneeling on the chair he had pulled beside Law’s earlier and holding an empty measuring spoon over the open filter basket.

 

“It’s a nickname.” She said, putting down the sugar jar that Luffy had unceremoniously pushed into her hands earlier.

 

“You see, when Law was younger...” Cora-san began and that was Law and Luffy’s cue to look startled and eager respectively, “He misheard her name as Five instead of Fai. And since she was really small and frail for her age back then, she kind of reminded Law of a baby. She was like his baby sister. So Baby Five.”

 

“Aww, that’s cute!” Luffy smiled widely as Law frowned and looked away, “Is that why you don’t like me calling you baby?”

 

“Don’t fucking start.” Law glared at Luffy who just laughed.

 

“I know, right?” Cora-san clapped, smiling brightly at Luffy and ignoring Law, “In fact, Cora-san is also just a nickname from Law. My real name is Rocinante!”

 

“Oh, yeah? How did you end up as—”

 

“Luffy!” Law squeezed Luffy’s calf. The boy jerked his leg to shake Law’s fingers off, eagerly waiting on _Rocinante’s_ answer.

 

“Come on, _Rocinante_ …!”

 

“Actually, when he was younger—”

 

“Can you _not_?!” Law threw an even sharper glare at his uncle. He wasn’t keen on letting Luffy know that Cora-san was him misreading his uncle’s favorite shirt that had “CORAZON” written in front. And that the nickname stuck forever. That wasn’t worth talking about anyway.

 

“Hey, hey, don’t think you can just glare-glare like that, _you_.” Baby Five slapping her hand on the table startled Law enough to fidget, to which Luffy guffawed at, making Law elbow him hard in return. Cora-san laughed again. Law wanted to kick everyone.

 

“It was already surprising that we found out you’re _living with an unintroduced boyfriend_.” his cousin put the feathered coat on the back of the chair next to their uncle before sitting down. Law immediately snapped to attention at the last word, but his brain wasn’t functioning fast enough for him to come up with an “appropriate” rebuttal, allowing Baby Five to hold up a finger and keep talking, “But what made you think getting a lot of tattoos in one go was a good idea?”

 

Tattoos? Oh. Yeah. Fuck. He had forgotten that.

 

Law opened his mouth again, but Baby Five picked up his hand as if to show it to himself, “Death, Law? _Really_?”

 

Oh, like he wanted this. He didn’t. This wasn’t his choice, _Baby Five_ , thank you very much. What he _did_ chose, however, was to let his paranoia get the best of him last night so he had to take stupid alley detours to “lose his pursuer”. But that’s in the past. Nothing can be done about it. And he couldn’t really blurt that out, could he? So Law just grabbed his hand back, wanting to tell his cousin to mind her own business had he not caught a glimpse of his uncle. He looked like he was actually expecting an answer. And with his sickly self travelling all the way to Law’s house, telling his uncle to just mind his own business was too rude even for Law. Besides, this was the man who had solely taken care of him since he was young, in place of his parents. He had the right to worry. And the right to know. But Law didn’t really think telling the truth would make any sense.

 

So what to say?

 

“Well, I think his tattoos are really cool!” Luffy chirped, waving the empty measuring spoon he was holding out earlier, bits of ground coffee falling on the table, “Besides, what Law does to his body is _his_ business.”

 

Of course, Luffy would think the tattoos were cool. They were _his_.

 

“Well, yeah, but…” Baby Five looked at Law and shrugged, “Whatever. It’s just odd.”

 

“Whatever. Leave his tattoos alone.” Luffy shrugged and looked back into the filter basket. Baby Five’s only response was to gasp. Law wasn’t sure what he felt with that answer but his first reaction was to pick up a coffee filter and throw it at Luffy so that it lamely hovered around before falling on the grass.

 

Cora-san, on the other hand, made a really amused sound, looking rather curious and pleased. Like he’d heard something really unexpected, looking at something that wasn’t supposed to be there. And come to think of it, honestly, Luffy wasn’t really supposed to be there. Luffy was an accident of Law’s. And now Cora-san was looking happily at that accident before turning to Law and saying, “You’ve really grown up now.”

 

Huh?

 

“ _Haaaa_?” Both Baby Five and Law leaned towards their uncle who blinked dumbly at them.

 

“You look at Luffy _and_ _then_ you say that?” Law slammed his palms on the table and leaned more, “Is any relationship a positive sign of maturity to you!? You don’t even know what this relationship is like yet! You didn’t even ask me!”

 

“ _Ehhh?!_ That’s not what I meant!”

 

“Then what? What are you saying, uncle?” Baby Five held out her arm to point at Law, “That these tattoos are a sign of maturity? _Is that it_?!”

 

“Th-that’s not what I meant either!”

 

“That is _it_! I don’t understand anymore!” Luffy exclaimed aggravatedly before throwing the measuring spoon on the table and glaring at the coffee maker, “I don’t understand this fucking thing!”

 

The look of aggravation in Luffy’s eyes was enough to assume that someone had stolen his thesis documentation and burned it two minutes before the deadline. His fingers were twitching like he was trying to decide how to take the coffee maker apart with this bare hands. Law had never seen anyone look this exasperated and offended by a kitchen appliance before. Demons really weren’t cut for technology maybe.

 

“Okay, I’ll just—”

 

“No!” Luffy banged his fist on the table, the objects clinking on top of it as they bounced from the impact, “Cora-san and I decided that we’re going to make coffee for you! Cora-san wants to make coffee for you!”

 

“Well, he doesn’t have to make coffee for me, Luffy!”

 

“Yes! Yes, he does! He wants to!” Luffy turned to the tall blonde man, “Don’t you Cora-san?”

 

And then everyone turned to the uncle in question who had leaned towards Baby Five, looking a bit confused and somewhat scared, eyes wide, and mouth just slightly agape. His niece blinked twice dumbly before turning to him, looking like she was expecting him to sob or whatever. There was a bit of awkward silence and Law was ready to bonk Luffy in the head.

 

Until Cora-san started laughing loudly.

 

“Hahahahahaha! Oh my god!”

 

The thought of doing anything violent to Luffy was no longer important at the sight of Cora-san’s joyous state. He was leaning back, one hand on the table and one hand lightly on his stomach, shoulders moving up and down with every happy sound he made. His blonde hair bobbed slightly as he dissolved into carefree and crisp laughter that made even his eyes smile, something which Law hadn’t seen him do in a long time. And he really wouldn’t mind seeing him this happy every time.

 

“Law, your boyfriend is amusing!” The man said rather loudly and for a while, Law forgot that he was sick, forgot to react—even internally—to Luffy being referred to as his boyfriend, “And, yes, Luffy. I _do_ want to make coffee for my nephew.”

 

“See?” Luffy looked triumphantly at Law, “He wants to do it. So let him. We’re going to make coffee under this happy morning sun!”

 

Law looked at Luffy for a bit, the word “sun” lingering without him knowing really why. Luffy just continued smiling at him, though. Looking at him now, he really didn’t look awful, did he? Not at all. That kind of wide and jolly smile made his fangs almost unnoticeable especially with how his eyes remained radially expressive even as they curved like delightful crescents. His face beamed like a ball of joy as his hair bounced happily with every movement, swaying with the wind like innocent curtains over his dark eyes.

 

The fierce and animalistic version of him was like a distant memory.

 

How… _odd_.

 

“You...” The shirtless nephew turned away because he could feel his face getting hot, “You  realize how stupid that is? Who fucking makes coffee under the glaring heat?”

 

“Haven’t you been listening? _We are_.” Luffy poked his finger at Law’s temple before setting his attention back to the ingredients on the table, “And the sun is a nice thing. What is your problem with it?”

 

“My problem is that it’s hot.”

 

Law felt like he had to say something.

 

“Well, _you’re_ hot, but do you hear me complaining? No.” The boy said casually, looking at the table as if thinking about what to pick up next. Law bit his lower lip, feeling his blood rush all the way up to his face so much so that he wanted to punch Luffy in emba—anger.

 

“Law, you’re…” His uncle began. Law just bit down on his lip harder, refusing to react any more than this. He wasn’t flustered. He wasn’t. It was annoying. All of this was annoying. Luffy was stupid. Well, maybe he should be thankful for Luffy not trying to stick his tongue down Law’s throat or grabbing his ass in front of his uncle and cousin. But still, he was stupid. And said unnecessary things.

 

”Oh my god!” Cora-san started laughing again, hitting the table like he can’t take it anymore, which was quite exaggerated if anyone cared to know what Law thought, “I take it back! Your boyfriend isn’t amusing! He’s _amazing_!”

 

“Yeah, ‘course I am.” Luffy dumped two scoops into the filter basket, cocking his head left and right, basking in the short praises that Cora-san had thrown his way, “Law has good taste.”

 

“He does, he does.” The blonde man picked up the sugar jar and handed it to Luffy, “He takes that after me, you know.”

 

“Don’t I know it?” Luffy laughed, grabbing the sugar jar with one hand and reaching for the milk with another.

 

“Oh, _please_.” Baby Five rolled her eyes away and Law shot her a glare. He’s been doing that a lot since he woke up. It was a good way to relieve stress, apparently. Baby Five pouted at him but said nothing.

 

“You’re not supposed to throw those in yet.” Law grabbed Luffy’s arm so he could take the sugar and creamer from his hands before his concoction could turn into a horrible disaster, “Look, I’ll work this coffee maker _and then…_ ” Law put the containers on the table as Luffy opened his mouth to protest so Law had to talk over him immediately, “You and Cora-san can watch over it and then figure out the creamer and all the other things afterwards. How’s that?”

 

Luffy closed his mouth, biting his lip, and looking suspiciously at Law who raised an eyebrow. The boy then raised a finger, motioning to say something, but he chose to look at Cora-san first who just smiled and shrugged. Luffy dropped his shoulders and waved a finger at Law, “Fine. But I get to cook the bacon and eggs.”

 

“Only if you agree to let Baby Five help you with it.” Law waved his finger back at Luffy.

 

“Wha—!” Baby Five had not finished the first word of her protest than Luffy managed to drag her up from the chair and into the kitchen so she could help him take out the fireplace. She was equally as confused as Law. The _what_? He probably meant the stove or the grill, but Law didn’t really want to find out if Luffy had enough strength to rip off the fireplace.

 

“Hey—!” Law looked over his shoulder, motioning to get up, but his uncle started talking.

 

“When were you planning on telling us about Luffy?”

 

Law froze in an instant. He really didn’t have anything prepared for that question. In fact, he hadn’t planned to tell anyone about Luffy at all. And he wasn’t sure what Luffy had told them aside from being his boyfriend.

 

“I was…” the young man slowly sat back down, groping for words as quickly as he could and decided that maybe some honesty was the best way to go, “I was... hoping to meet his family today first…”

 

Okay, maybe kind of a lie. Or not totally honest, but not entirely a lie. He wasn’t sure if Luffy had a family or relatives at all since he could just go “here is my home” without a care. Or maybe demons were vagabonds. Did they travel in packs? In groups? Fuck, maybe Law should have researched on that.

 

“Family??” His uncle was genuinely surprised, “So soon? How long have you been—”

 

Fuck. Fuck, no, don’t ask that. Don’t ask that!

 

“Ah, you know what? Never mind.” Cora-san waved off the conversation with a smile, calm and gentle, unlike the one he was flashing earlier while laughing. It made Law wish he smiled more vibrantly like that, “It’s you so it’s fine. You’ve never given me reason not to trust you anyway.”

 

Law nodded quietly, trying to make himself look busy with the coffee disaster that Luffy had left him.

 

“But maybe you should bring Luffy over to the house when you come visit.”

 

Law wasn’t planning on that. He was actually hoping to get Luffy out of his life within the day or the next or before he could have any lasting impacts on his life. But he wasn’t going to tell that to his uncle.

 

“I’m telling you, we can’t just fry them under the sun!” Baby Five screeched from within the house as Luffy came out with a chopping board and a pan before running towards a spot in the garden with a patch of sunlight.

 

“But it’s so nice and warm!” Luffy looked up, peering at the sun uselessly from under the pan he was holding up, “Can’t we at least _try_!? Such a waste of sun!”

 

Cora-san laughed again, although not as loudly as earlier.

 

“You really like mornings, don’t you, Luffy?”

 

“Of course!” Luffy waved the pan as he flashed another brilliant smile, “I haven’t had sunlight in forever!”

 

**-End of Chapter 3-**


	4. No Such Thing

“Are you  _ sure _ now is a good time?” 

 

Law wasn’t certain if Luffy heard him because the boy just ran out the front door after he flung it open so hard, Law thought it was going to fly right off the hinges. What was he to do with this boy? 

 

Cora-san and Baby Five had left half-an-hour ago. It was a good thing Law was able to seize the chance to take a quick shower while Luffy was still occupied before they left. Law had little to no strength left to fend off Luffy’s sexual advances should he decide to break down the bathroom door. Surprisingly, though, Luffy was more eager to go to The Spirale to find the people, er,  _ creatures _ who might help them with their predicament.

 

“Aren’t demons supposed to be asleep in the morning and awake at night?” Law spoke a little louder, looking around the house to see if anything was out of place, “I was thinking we were supposed to go sometime in the afternoon or…”

 

“Who cares about that!?” Luffy was looking up at the sky, holding out his arms, and laughing. Law’s old hoodie and a pair of his old cargo shorts were a size or two too big for him. The way that the clothes hung around his body made it look like it was trying to eat him. It was a mix of funny and adorable. Well, It’s not like they had any time (or money because Law lost his wallet) to go shopping anyway. 

 

Law tugged at the long sleeves of his sweatshirt. Maybe he should have worn gloves to conceal his fingers, but that just didn’t go well with any of his clothes right now without looking like he was going to some formal dinner party.

 

“I want to see the look on their faces when they find out I’ve been daywalking.” Luffy bent back a little so he could look with his head upside down at Law who was still in the house, “ _ With you. _ ”

 

Whatever the hell happened to the possibility of getting killed if they disturbed demons at the wrong time? Was that a damn excuse so they wouldn’t go out last night? Law started towards the door, two coats folded in one arm, grabbing his keys before taking one last look at the house to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. He felt his dead phone in his pocket, mentally noting again how he needed to get it fixed. He had to borrow Baby Five’s phone to make calls to work and his bank one of his two credit cards was in the wallet he lost (Thanks a lot, Bellamy). Cora-san overheard the whole thing and handed him some cash. Embarrassing. It was bad enough he and his pink-ass brother were sending allowance for school already. Law was going to pay it back regardless of what his uncle said.

 

“...things, you know.” 

 

Law shook his head to pay attention to what Luffy was talking about.

 

“So we’ll wait at the The Spirale.” Luffy shrugged before starting to skip around the path tiles. He was barefoot. Law rubbed his forehead, cursing inwardly, opting to just conserve his body energy and just quietly stepped back into the house to get the rubber shoes his incubus was supposed to wear. They were obviously too big for him, but with a lot of tissue stuffing and tightened shoelaces, it would serve its purpose.

 

“Fine, but…” Law got up and walked back out, extending his arm to show Luffy the shoes “Daywalking?” 

 

“Yep.” Luffy hopped with two feet on one tile before looking at Law, “Walking.” He held out his arm and so he could make his two fingers walk on it, “During daytime.”

 

“I know, but… It’s special?” Law put the shoes down on the pavement and Luffy ran to it. Law thought it was like having a pet. There was the urge to touch Luffy’s head and mess his hair. “I mean, you were so into the sun earlier. You weren’t instinctively afraid of it so I was under the impression you could just... ”

 

“Well, I don’t  _ die _ from the sun like vampires do.“ Luffy pushed a foot into the left shoe, squishing the back part as he forced it in without bending over and using his hands. “It’s just that it  _ hurts _ .” Law raised an eyebrow at how Luffy was sticking his tongue out, trying to concentrate on getting his foot in the left shoe and finally succeeding. Except the shoe tongue looked like it was in twisted misery. “I couldn’t endure sunlight before, but…” Luffy stuck in his foot into the right shoe, holding out his arms on either side to balance himself.

 

“Woah!” Luffy wobbled backwards and Law grabbed him by the arm to pull him back. Luffy got the hint and held onto the taller man so he could continue harassing the shoe with his foot.“...But I have a host now.” 

 

Law would hate to be that shoe right now.

 

“Demons with hosts share stuff with their human.” Luffy finally got his foot in and looked up at Law expectantly as if waiting for praise or reward as he continued talking, “Like heartbeat, body heat, and the privilege to bask under the glorious warmth of the sun without suffering!”

No sooner than Luffy had finished his sentence did he attempt to turn and  _ run _ . What the hell? Law, who hadn’t let go of Luffy’s arm yet, pulled him back. The boy squeaked in surprise as he stumbled a bit, turning with his uncoordinated footing. He ended up holding onto Law’s shoulder and looked looking like he was trying to recover from having been sent spinning as he searched for Law’s face. Which was already right in front of him.

 

“Your shoelaces.”

 

Luffy blinked dumbly at first. And then he looked down at his shoes, blinked again, and made a small confused… purr? What? Did he not know how to tie shoelaces? Law sighed and scratched his head before handing Luffy the coats he was holding so he could kneel down and tie the shoelaces himself. Luffy purred again, sounding a little amused this time. 

 

And he was, really. While being shackled to this man for an unknown period of time possibly meant prolonged hunger, Luffy could not help but feel giddy and excited inside. Two weeks of stalking, having to add more and more distance as days passed by because his patience was wearing thin. Two weeks of telling himself he’s not ripe yet and not knowing what it means. Two weeks of smelling him from the distance like some sort of self-inflicted torture. Two weeks of fending off other vampires, incubi, succubi, and demons and if Luffy had to fight werewolves then fuck ‘em, too. Two weeks. And now his very own Trafalgar Law was right next to him. In front of him. Bonded to him, albeit in a way they didn’t plan for. This gorgeous man was kneeling down and trying to do something to his feet and maybe Luffy preferred being touched somewhere else by those hands but  _ still _ . 

 

“Tell me if it’s too tight.” Law muttered, not caring to look up and see Luffy nod just before he pulled tightly on the shoelaces and hgk! 

 

Luffy gasped, his voice coming out in a weird, sharp way, curling towards the end to sound like a startled moan that was very impossible to miss. Luffy didn’t mean anything by it. It was a sound he made mostly out of instinct because he was thinking of how and where he wanted those tattooed fingers. Law took a deep breath. For patience, probably. Well, good thing they were on the same boat. Luffy was having a patience crisis as well. How he didn’t just rip Law’s clothes off last night, he didn’t know. He also didn’t know how much longer he could not resort to taking this human against his will. It was a matter of pride, maybe. What kind of incubus couldn’t seduce a human that he’d have to result to rape? 

 

And then the man pulled on those feet strings again. Something about that felt so good that Luffy’s body almost jolted out of place. Yeah, fuck, Luffy would have no problem if Law wanted to tie him up and just do away with him. He’d be fine with it as long as they both came. Halfway through Luffy’s thoughts and another tight tug that elicited one more weird gasp-moan, Law looked up with a menacing glare. Luffy fidgeted and held his hands up as if to say, “Sorry. Accident.” But maybe Law shouldn’t look up at him like that too often either.

 

The man sent him another glare before going back to his task with Luffy’s feet. The boy chuckled lightly.

 

”The sun. Warmth. A heartbeat.” Luffy’s fingers gently touched his human’s soft hair, “And then you.” Law stood up and Luffy followed him with his eyes before smiling, “Man, I suddenly got it good, don’t I?”

 

Law glanced away and Luffy thought he looked so adorable like that. His heart was beating in little thumps and, oh, oh, he was trying to hide it. Was he hoping for Luffy not to feel it? That just made Luffy want to touch his face more. Wait, is it faintly disappearing from Luffy’s senses? Maybe he  _ was _ trying to learn to hide it? Well, then, Luffy mustn’t let him know if it’s working or not else he might actually learn to conceal. Besides, if he didn’t like being peppered with kisses maybe he should stop making faces that deserve it.

 

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re actually not interested in freeing yourself?” Law muttered with a scowl before turning to go. Ah, this man. So elusively fetching. Luffy actually thought Law would handle flirting a bit better with that confidence and that face. It wasn’t like that, apparently. He was awkward when flustered, but stubborn and refused to admit any form of  bashfulness. Maybe Law was doing it on purpose? Maybe he was playing hard-to-get? Well, that’s okay. Law never looked like he was easy to begin with and Luffy loved a good, challenging chase. Especially if he was this hot.

 

“Of course, I want freedom!” Luffy looked down smiling at his shoes, wriggling his toes and feeling the tissue paper Law had stuffed in it. So thoughtful. He just could’ve gone barefoot and invisible, but seeing his human pick out clothes for him was too delightful to pass on. Everything that he was wearing right now was Law’s and handpicked by him, too. He’s practically immersed in this man’s scent so why wouldn’t Luffy be happy? 

 

The sound of the car starting made Luffy look up to find Law stepping out of the driver’s side to put the windshields down. Luffy took this as the opportunity to run to him and hug him by the waist, “I want freedom, but it doesn’t mean I don’t like being with you!” 

 

Law only grunted. Luffy looked up and tip-toed so he could kiss him, but the man was stubborn and pushed his face away. Such big hands. Oh, what those hands could do. Luffy allowed himself a chuckle. His human just looked confusedly at him.

 

“Well, you haven’t had sex with me, but whatever.” Luffy playfully nudged against Law, “It’s gonna happen sooner or later.”

 

The man’s eyes narrowed. Luffy thought it was sexy. In fact, fifteen out of ten things Law did was sexy. 

 

“Get in the fucking car.” Law nodded his head towards the grumbling vehicle behind him. He should know how it was so nice hearing him say the word “fucking”. Luffy pressed his body closer, fingers tracing down Law’s spine as he breathed on Law’s exposed collarbone.

 

“Do you want me in the  _ fucking car’s _ backseat or…”

 

He could practically feel Law’s blood rushing throughout his body. He was never going to get enough sensing that pleasurable, embarrassed rush.

 

“Luffy, just get in the car!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Law had given Luffy stern instructions not to startle people at The Spirale. He was not to throw himself on Law’s lap, lick Law’s neck (or any of his body parts for that matter), smother Law with kisses or do any other obscene sexual thing to Law that Luffy thought was normal. The little demon kept on saying “yes” to everything but was obviously too invested on sticking his head out the window. Law, in turn, was too busy trying to keep said little demon from not hitting his forehead on a truck and potentially blow it up. He just hoped the boy would  _ feel his thoughts _ about not wanting to be humiliated to the point where he could no longer return to the place that made the best coffee he could ever hope for.

 

“Luffy.” Law called, trying some last minute reminders, but the demon was too occupied with how the cafe’s signage looked so different in broad daylight and with the lights off. 

 

Ah, well.

 

It was the first time the singing of the door chimes sounded so perilous for Law as he pushed the cafe door open. He turned back to Luffy slightly and muttered as he nodded towards his usual spot, which was thankfully empty, “Go sit over there and stay put.”

 

The “RESERVED” sign wasn’t there today.

 

“Good mor—Oh, hi, Law!” Sanji was the first to greet him from behind the counter as he screwed a jar closed and put it on the shelf overhead. 

 

“Sanji.” Law nodded at him. The same nod he’d given him every time he came over. The cafe was fairly quiet, as it was mostly just people on their laptops and phones. The buzzing of chit-chatty people were to come later, maybe. Thankfully. Law tried his best not to look at anyone else in the room. He was just going to order drinks and head over to his spot and then—

 

“Oh my goooooooooooood…!” And that was, of course, and to Law’s utter distress,  _ Luffy _ . He had apparently found the dessert cabinet and managed to plaster himself on it, his forehead against the glass as he salivated over the delightful desserts and abominable bread. 

 

One minute. He could not leave his incubus unattended for one damn minute to save his life. God damn it.

 

“O-oi!” Sanji exclaimed.

 

“Oh my god, Law, look at them!!” The boy’s eyes were practically shimmering and he would have probably stuffed his mouth with the cake he was eyeing had the clear glass not been there to stop him, “I can’t decide which one I want first. I can’t decide. I caaaaaaaaaaaaan’t…! Oh my gooooooooooooooooood…!”

 

“Hey, you!”

 

Zoro’s voice was already approaching and that was Law’s cue to do or say something.

 

“L-Luffy…!” Law immediately grabbed Luffy by the elbow to pull him away from the desert cabinet. The boy tried holding on, but Law tugged him away harder, leaving a smear of his hand prints on the glass and a spot where his hot breath had fogged. Law was not sure if he wanted to throw Luffy or himself out the door.

 

Embarrassing. Embarrassing. Embarrassing. Embarrassing.  _ Embarrassing! _

 

“Luffy!” Law glowered heavily at the demon as he shoved him to a spot next to him, “Can you  _ not _ !?”

 

“ _ He’s _ with  _ you _ ?”

 

“Yeah, I…” Law glared at Luffy one more time, motioning to drag him towards his usual seat so he could bury him into the chair as he looked up at Zoro, “I’m sorry, he’s just…”

 

But the green-haired man wasn’t looking at Law. He was looking at Luffy. 

 

“ _ Really _ , Luffy?” 

 

Oh?

 

Oh.

 

Zoro was talking to Luffy. Wait, Zoro  _ knew _ Luffy? Law turned to the boy beside him.

 

“Yeah.” the boy nodded smugly at Zoro, taking his arm back from Law, “And, mornin’!”

 

Zoro looked outside thoughtfully. Law turned around to see if there was anything special outside that caused the cafe waiter to zone out a bit. There was nothing out of the ordinary. But there was more than what met the eye, wasn’t there? Law was missing out on something, wasn’t he? He turned to check the streets again just to be sure Bellamy wasn’t going to be the next customer.

 

“You’re right.” Zoro finally looked back at Luffy, “It  _ is _ morning.” 

 

He sounded like it was something he wasn’t sure of before this conversation. 

 

Well, it seemed there was some existential conversation going on. What’s more was that Law wasn’t a part of it. And he felt like he  _ should be _ . But then Zoro started eyeing Law, which was annoying. He didn’t like getting stared at. At least not this blatantly. If Zoro had the time to wonder about mornings then maybe he could spare a few minutes to tell Law what was going on. So it was morning. And? Was there supposed to be an eclipse happening at this time of day? 

 

Law was about to ask how Luffy and Zoro knew each other when the blonde barista spoke from the counter.

 

“Fucking hell. His hands.” Sanji was leaning forward and looking at Law’s fingers. Zoro’s one good eye started staring at it too and Law felt the dire need to hide his fingers under his sleeves. But that was lame so he opted to cross his arms across his chest instead. 

 

“What about my hands?” Law suppressed another glare that was dying to stab everyone in the cafe. 

 

“Those tattoos.” The green-haired cafe waiter nodded at him. Law had never seen Zoro look as dumbfounded as he was looking now. There was a little voice in Law’s head telling him that Zoro knew where the rest of his tattoos are and that just made him want to cover himself despite being fully dressed. Or smack Zoro in the face for looking at all. Because, fuck, ever heard of personal space, man?

 

“Yeah, these tattoos.” Luffy stepped between Zoro and Law, “ _ Really _ .”

 

“Ohh.” Zoro was starting to smile, “Ohoho…!” And then he started laughing to which Luffy responded with more laughter.

 

Huh? What? What was so funny?

 

“Never thought I’d say this but...” Zoro raised his hand for a high-five, which Luffy gave to him without hesitation and much pride, “Congratu-fuckin-lations on actually nabbing him!”

 

Got him? Him? Who?   
  
“Are you talking about me?” Law made no effort whatsoever to conceal that he was displeased. Zoro cocked his head to one side, “Yeah. Obviously.” And then the green-haired man turned to Luffy again, “How much does he have?”

 

“All of it.” Luffy answered, chest out, hands on waist, looking too proud of himself.

 

“All of it?!” Zoro and Sanji chorused, but with two different obvious expressions. Zoro was pretty impressed, eyeing Law from head to toe, and nodding while rubbing his chin. Awkward. And annoying. Sanji, on the other hand, looked  _ concerned _ , which bothered Law more because maybe there was something that he should be worried about himself.

 

“You really…” Sanji began, looking at Law’s hands tucked under his arms and then back at his face as Zoro continued snickering with Luffy and patting the boy on the back. The barista’s worried reaction kept Law from wondering what those two found so impressive, “Did you really forge with everything?”

 

“Did I really  _ what _ with _ what _ ?”

 

And that’s when Zoro stopped laughing. Sanji immediately drew a sharp breath and immediately dropped what he was doing, sporting a look that said, “I  _ knew it _ .”

 

“Law,” Sanji was wiping his hands on his apron as he walked out from the counter and grabbed Law’s hand, lifting it as if to show it to him, “Do you have  _ any idea _ what these are?”

 

“What? I do. I think.” Law took his hand back consciously and crossed his arms again, “I mean, he told me. But we can’t break it so...” Law impatiently turned to his demon, “Luffy are they the ones we’re looking for?” And then he turned back to the blonde man whom he was wondering if was human at all, “Are you? Can you help us with...” Law considered showing his hands again to point out what he meant, but decided against it, “I’m kind of stuck with him.”

 

“Well, that’s—!” Whatever the issue was, it was too outrageous that it kept Sanji from finishing his sentence. The blonde barista took another deep breath and slapped Luffy’s head with a hand towel he was holding, “What did you do to this poor man?”

 

“Ow! What did I  _ do _ ?!” Luffy recoiled away from Sanji and inched towards Law like he could do anything about Sanji looking like a pissed off older brother, “It was an accident!”

 

“An  _ accident _ ?” Sanji wrung the towel he was holding as Luffy pouted, moving closer towards Law as if asking for help, “What do you  _ mean _ acci—How can something like this be—”

 

“Hey, you’re overreacting.” Zoro shrugged, eyed Law and then tugged Sanji by the elbow, “If he could take all of it, he could probably handle it.”

 

“Yeah, well, if you think you’ve got this, why does he look as clueless as he is right now?”

 

“Clueless is not the same as not being able to handle something.” Zoro now looked disappointedly at Sanji, “Why are you even affected? This doesn’t concern you at all.”

 

“Zoro, Law is a  _ human being _ . This is  _ my cafe _ .” 

 

“Okay, that’s it. Can I just ask something?” Law finally found his voice. The anxiety in his stomach kept growing with the conversations that he couldn’t make anything out of. And that said something because patching up clues to form a conclusion was one of his strong points. But why should he wait for more hints in the conversations to arrive at a theory if he could just raise his questions and be answered instead? Honestly, he wouldn’t have asked permission to speak if he was sure he was talking to two human beings, but who knew if these two could suddenly metamorphose into yetis?

 

“Of course, you ca—”

 

“No. Save it.” Sanji interrupted Luffy as he lifted a hand to silence both him and Law. The little demon stiffened, obviously not impressed with how Sanji just quickly told him to shut up.

 

“Hey.” Luffy turned to glower at Sanji.

 

“Hey  _ what _ ?” Zoro took one step towards Luffy.

 

“ _ Yourself _ .” Luffy’s eyes snapped sharply at Zoro without moving his head and that’s when Law’s brain immediately switched to a defensive mode that he didn’t knew existed. He was getting the same vibe from the whole Bellamy versus Luffy incident, which wasn’t a good sign. One minute they were patting each other’s backs then the next second, they’re growling at each other. What was  _ with _ these people?!

 

“Zoro.” Sanji’s firm voice cut the tension like a sure knife and Zoro’s attention immediately turned to him, “Take this idiot and his…” Sanji looked carefully at Law, obviously trying to choose a word other than  _ human _ , “ _ Partner _ … upstairs.”

 

Partner. Okay. Sanji  _ did _ know something. But, on to the more immediate concern, did he say  _ upstairs _ ? Going in a secluded area with one incubus and a waiter who had the balls to actually go into a dagger-staring contest with a monster like Luffy? Either Zoro was  _ not human _ or was a human who could deal with these demons. Law wasn’t eager to find out in a closed space. 

 

“Wait,no.” Law’s voice sounded firm. What a good bluff. “I’m not going anywhere until I—”

 

“The man said we’re going upstairs.” Zoro talked over Law to which Luffy responded to by practically growling at Zoro.

 

“And the man was saying something until you fucking interrupted him.” 

 

The waiter who probably wasn’t a regular human just raised his head at the unfazed demon boy in front of him.

 

“Maybe you’re forgetting where the fuck you are, Luffy.” 

 

“Maybe you’re forgetting who the fuck you’re talking to.”

 

“ _ Maybe _ …” Sanji slapped both Luffy and Zoro with the hand towel he was wringing earlier, “Both of you shitheads should stop being territorial and overprotective! Take Law and go the fuck upstairs!” Zoro grumbled, and shot Luffy one last glare before he placed his tray on the counter and headed towards the door. The blonde barista then turned to Law as he removed his apron, “Law, just... Not out here.”

 

“Okay, but…”

 

“Come on, sunshine.” Luffy was now taking his hand so they could follow Zoro upstairs, “Don’t worry! Sanji makes the best snacks!”

 

Why, of course.  _ Of course _ , the snacks were what concerned Law. It was most definitely not that his incubus was actually friends with the people from the cafe he frequented. Not only that, they seemed to be aware of this whole demon-human bond thing. Now Law was never really close friends with these two people from the cafe but he couldn’t really help but feel a bit... betrayed?

 

Anyway, Sanji had a point. Ensnaring an incubus by accident wasn’t something people would like to overhear without wondering for the mental health of The Spirale’s employees (and Law as well). So maybe Law wasn’t sure exactly what was going on yet, but if Sanji could order around both Luffy and Zoro then maybe he was some awesome person with demon-controlling skills. And he actually looked like he was concerned for Law’s well-being, which was a good thing. There was some sort of relief in the thought that there actually was someone other than Luffy whom Law could ask about his current predicament. This wasn’t actually a topic he’d expect to discuss with his preferred barista, but better him than Luffy. He’d spoken to Sanji more times than he’d ever spoken to Luffy after all.

 

Zoro led them into the back room, which was pretty much what anyone would have expected for a cafe’s. The stocks of supplies and ingredients were neatly organized on the wall shelves and cabinets. What Law thought was pretty clever was the giant shelf that divided the room into two so that there was a cubicle-like space for an office. The sound of another door opening made Law pay attention to what seemed to be a small dark room that Zoro was leading them into. A quick flick on the light switch revealed a flight of steps dimly lit by a single yellow-orange light from overhead. Looking at it gave Law flashbacks to the alley attack last night.

 

Luffy squeezed his hand. Law had forgotten he was still holding it. Zoro nodded at them to go first so he could close the door behind them.

 

“I told you, Sanji makes the best snacks.” Luffy smiled at him as they started up, “He’s definitely going to come up and make munchies.”

 

The stairs weren’t really narrow but it wasn’t wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Law felt silly that he was still hand-in-hand with Luffy but there was a weird feeling of security that came with it. It kept him from letting go.

 

“Sanji! Sanji, is that you!?” A familiar female voice came from upstairs along with the sound of footsteps running towards them, “Would you be a darling and reserve Law’s table!? I can smell him approaching!” 

 

She could  _ what _ ? Law could hear Luffy chuckling.

 

And just like that, Nami stuck her head out from the top of the steps, words still streaming out of her mouth, “I didn’t think he’d come this earl—” The woman stopped her attempt to hurry down the stairs as soon as she saw the three men coming upstairs. She was barefoot, wearing her short cafe maid uniform, the white blouse still untucked and top half of the jumper skirt still hanging off her waist. 

 

“L-L-Law…!?”

 

Law didn’t even try to say anything to the woman. He wasn’t even keen on telling her how he could see the laces of her bra from the top of her almost bursting blouse. 

 

How could he have known? He should have been more suspicious with how she always,  _ always _ had a seat for him when he came over. Eight out of ten times, he had his space reserved. On any occasion that it was occupied, Law always,  _ always _ had a space for himself. He almost  _ never _ had to wait for table, which he chalked up to impressive customer service, not supernatural skill. Who would have thought that was because someone could actually  _ smell him approaching _ ?  Her words exactly, not his. 

 

“W-what are y—!”

 

She continued watching them approach.

 

“Yeeeaaah. Awkward, Nami.” Zoro waved for her to move and make way, “ Awkward.” 

 

The girl moved to one side, still looking shocked.

 

“Hi, Nami!” Luffy piped with small quick waves as they reached the top of the steps.

 

“Luffy?!?!” She exclaimed, looking even more surprised. And wasn’t that silly? Luffy was in front. She should’ve noticed him first. The ginger-haired woman immediately checked the watch that she probably bought from the accumulated tips Law had given her (yeah, he felt a bit spiteful over giving his money to demons), “B-but it’s morning…!” She looked up at Luffy then at Zoro and then back at Luffy. “And…! Wait…! ” 

 

Law wished that pause was because she remembered that she needed to fix her uniform. Judging by how she was eyeing him right now, that might not just be the case.

 

“Y-You.” Nami pointed to Luffy. “And you.” She pointed to Law.

 

Luffy waved again, chuckling as he grinned widely. Law rolled his eyes away.

 

”You guys…” Nami’s hands covered her mouth, looking frantically between Law and his incubus, “Oh my god.” She ran a hand through her hair, eyes going wide like she wanted to wake up right fucking now, “ _ Oh my god _ !”

 

“Yeah.” Luffy again, “So you can stop smelling my human from now on, thank you.”

 

Nami grunted and maybe Law should’ve paid more attention to how Zoro stepped to the side because in one instant, the orange-haired girl was gone. Or maybe she was nothing but the blur of orange and flesh and black that passed by Law moments before she was suddenly in front of Luffy with a fistful of his shirt—Law’s shirt that Luffy was wearing—as she leaned forward as if to challenge the little incubus.

 

Holy shit!

 

“You selfish little punk, Luffy!” She shook him vigorously, “What have you done to my best tipping costumer!?”

 

“ _ Excuse me _ !?” One of Luffy’s hands grabbed her wrists in an attempt to remove her fingers, “I called dibs and everything as soon as I saw him!”

 

“More like did you  _ have _ to bond him!?” The well-endowed girl shook even harder, “ _ Did you _ !?”

  
“Fucking hell, Nami, not you, too.” Zoro rubbed his temple impatiently, “Can’t you even gauge, woman?”

 

“Shut up, Zoro.” Nami snapped at him and Law thought he heard her hiss somewhere along that short sentence sentence, “What are you going to do if something happens to Law? Are  _ you _ going to give me extra tips!? No?  _ Stay out of this _ .” 

 

Law would’ve preferred a different reason other than “tips” for Nami to be concerned for his general well-being. Maybe it was just nice to know that all that money he tipped her wasn’t for naught? But what was this woman talking about? What  _ could _ happen to him? 

 

“Hey.” Law was talking before he could think of what he was going to say. The demoness swiftly turned her head towards him, her expression changing in one quick movement. She was suddenly beside Law, hands clasped together and lips curved into a sad pout.

 

“Oh, you poor, poor thing!” The empathetic face she was making was almost convincing with those watery eyes and scrunched eyebrows, “What did this stupid demon kid tell you for you to agree to a bond with him?”

 

“Actually...” Law considered taking a step back, “...It was an accident.”

 

“I see, I see, it was an—an accident?” Nami turned and glared at Luffy again, “Is that your best excuse!?”

 

“It’s not an excuse!” Luffy marched over and unceremoniously pushed himself in the little space between Nami and Law.

 

“He’s not lying.” Law felt the need to immediately say something as soon as Nami started to open her mouth to berate Luffy again, “I accidentally ensnared him.”

 

Ensnared. Law used the word like he knew precisely what it meant. He sounded like he knew shit, which he didn’t.

 

“What?” Nami and Zoro chorused.

 

“Okay, I left everything downstairs to Duval.” Sanji’s voice came from the stairs, “Did you guys start discussing without me?”

 

“No, not really. Not yet.” The green-haired waiter replied before clapping for everyone to move, “Okay, children, sit down. Sit down.” 

 

As Zoro ushered them towards to one side of the room was the only time that Law was able to properly survey the floor they were on. It looked more like a simple apartment with a kitchen on one side and a living room with a sofa set and two bean bag chairs where Zoro was motioning for them to go to. Was this Nami’s place? Or Zoro’s? Sanji’s? It didn’t really allow much natural light, did it? The windows covered with thick curtains while the indoor lights were warm but dim. 

 

Law was noting that the single door probably led to the bedroom when he felt himself being shoved onto one of the bean bag chairs. He fell with an “oof” and Luffy lost no time to throw himself next to Law, making both of them bounce and shift slightly as if riding a calm wave. The boy chuckled giddily, nudging closer, and grabbing one of Law’s arms to wrap around his shoulders.

 

“I’ve decided to stay here.” Luffy announced before Law could complain, putting his head on the man’s chest, and draping an arm over his torso, “This is my spot.”

 

“Oh my god, this is really happening.” Nami sighed. She was wearing her uniform properly now as she brushed her hair while heading towards the refrigerator.

 

“No, I’m good. Thanks.” Sanji was saying now and Law looked up just in time to see Zoro lean down and kiss the blonde man softly on the lips. Law modestly looked away. He kind of knew Zoro and Sanji were a couple although he never really gave it much thought let alone ask. But it felt weird actually confirming it for himself by seeing them kiss as Luffy nuzzled and hummed appreciatively next to him.

 

“Okay, Luffy.” Sanji said from the kitchen amidst the sound of the burner being turned on with the clicking of a knob, “Start talking. What happened?”

 

“Well...” Luffy spoke from where he was without bothering to lift his head from Law’s chest, “So last night, after I finished feeding, I went here so I could stalk Law. And then there was this guy—”

 

“Luffy.” Nami said his name like a warning as she popped a beer can open. Next to her was Zoro who was bending and reaching into the refrigerator himself. She lifted the can to her lips but paused to offer it to Law who lifted his hand with a slight shake of his head to politely decline. He wanted to comment on how it’s too early for beer, but didn’t. Shrugging, the woman took two full gulps before started towards one of the sofa chairs, “Short version.”

 

“But it’s much, much cooler if you hear the whole story!” Luffy complained, actually taking some effort to turn his head, but not enough to detach himself from Law’s skin, “I promise it’s going to be a good story!”

 

No, it was going to be a  _ long story _ if they left the retelling to Luffy. Law could only stand to be clueless and lost for so long.

 

“I got attacked last night.” Law spoke immediately, making Luffy fidget and sit up, but Law was quick to respond by putting his hand over the boy’s about-to-open mouth “Luffy jumped in and fought my attacker. He won and tried to eat me and next thing I know, I’m an unwilling, tattooed human host.”

 

“Oh my god, Law!” Luffy removed Law’s hand from his mouth, “ _ I _ was supposed to tell the story!”

 

“It seems you skipped some important parts.” Zoro was now holding a bottle of wine as he walked towards the small living room. The green-haired man dropped a six-pack can of beers on the coffee table as he let himself fall on the couch. That made Law want to comment again on how it was too early for beer, but he held his tongue.

 

“Yeah, tell them the important parts! The important parts!” Luffy’s face was somewhere between excitedly expectant and disappointedly pissed, “Tell them how cool I was when I beat Bellamy!”

 

Perhaps Luffy had a different recollection of the story. Law never remembered him—or anyone for that matter—looking cool enough to merit a retelling. What Law remembered was being scared, confused, and somewhat pissed that he got called “baby” when he wanted to run. 

 

“I was supposed to ask how he got the tattoos but…” Zoro was about to bring the bottle to his lips, “Who the fuck is Bellamy?” 

 

That was all that Luffy needed to hear before he sat up quickly with sparkling eyes. He leaned eagerly towards Zoro who just started drinking, eyes still on Luffy.

 

“Okay, so you see when Law got out—” 

 

Again, no. They absolutely didn’t have time for more shit to be dragged on.

 

“I have no idea how I got them.” Law shrugged, pulling Luffy back by the hood of his shirt so he fell back into the bean bag with a bounce on the spot beside Law.

 

“Aaargh! Noooo!” Luffy sounded betrayed. The boy hugged the man’s torso tightly and buried his face in his human’s chest while kicking his feet, “Why won’t you tell them!? Why!? Would it kill you to be a little bit proud of me!?”

 

Nami rolled her eyes away.

 

“Luffy, it was a fucking one-sided fight. Bellamy couldn’t even do  _ shit _ to you.” Law poked two fingers against Luffy’s forehead, “The only reason you didn’t kill him was because you didn’t want to!”   
  


“Wrooooong!” Luffy swatted Law’s hand away from his face, “It was because I didn’t want to kill in front of  _ you _ !” Law sank into the bean bag when the little incubus unceremoniously shifted on top to straddle him. “You weren’t even paying attention!” Luffy leaned forward, his weight on Law’s stomach as he squished Law’s cheeks between his palms, “Who were you looking at, huh!? Were you paying more attention to Bellamy than me!?”

 

“You were more of an immediate concern to me than Bellamy, you stupid asshole!”

 

Perhaps “Immediate  _ threat _ ” would have been a more appropriate term. Law’s train of thought back then was that if he couldn’t scratch Bellamy, there was no way he was going to do  _ anything _ to Luffy. But maybe that message didn’t come out right because it just made Luffy’s eyes sparkly, cheeks pink, and mouth slightly open to form an amused “o”. Yeah, maybe Law should’ve phrased that better.

 

“Actually, what I meant—”

 

“Oh, I know what you meeeeaaant…” Luffy hummed, leaning forward with another hug so he could put his head on Law’s chest again, which made it obvious that he  _ clearly _ did not know what Law meant. He was also smiling. Law couldn’t see, but he just  _ knew _ the little imp was smiling and pleased with himself. One of his fingers was playfully drawing little spirals on Law’s arm as if it wasn’t enough that it felt awkward being sandwiched by Luffy and the bean bag in front of three other people.

 

“Ohhhh my goood.” Nami complained, a hand flying to her forehead, “They’re such a riot already. My head hurts.”

 

“See? Law can totally handle Luffy.” Zoro shrugged with a smile, “I don’t know what any of you were worried about.”

 

“Oh,  _ please _ .” Nami took a few loud gulps from the beer can she was holding, “How about the fact that my best tipping customer has no idea how he claimed Luffy’s marks despite having  _ all of them _ ? How’s that for a start?”

 

Law really didn’t like the title “best tipping customer”. It made him sound like he got favors in exchange for giving Nami monetary benefits. Well, it was  _ kind of _ like that except it sounded really inappropriate.

 

“Isn’t the answer to that really simple?” Zoro waved her off as he crossed his legs, “That just means he has enough mana to take it and sustain it. Geez, Nami. So basic.”

 

“Zoro, if you talk to Nami-swan like that again, I’m going to maim you with a frying pan.” Sanji said from the kitchen. There was the smell of potatoes being fried dancing in the air along with other spices that Law couldn’t figure. Nami chirped a nice “Thank you, Sanji”. Zoro made a face.

 

“Can someone explain—Luffy!” Law moved his head away as soon as he felt Luffy’s lips starting to pucker around his earlobe. Zoro laughed and Nami groaned again. The little incubus sighed in disappointment but went back to leaning on Law’s chest. 

 

“Nope, sorry. No one can explain Luffy.” Zoro shook his head as if talking to himself. It wasn’t clear if that was a bad attempt at sarcasm or an obvious display of stupidity. Law told himself not to comment on it and just stick to the issue at hand.

 

“Can someone please explain to me the basics of this tattoo transfer?” 

 

“See?  _ See _ ?” Nami pointed with her open palm at Law, “Luffy didn’t even tell him that.”

 

“I did to!” Luffy was not moving from his spot and did not even bother to look at Nami, “I told him I was totally dependent on him now.”

 

“Yeah, so basically nothing helpful.” Sanji said again amidst sizzling sounds from the kitchen as he waved a spatula in the air.

 

“Uuurrrgh!” Nami proceeded to put her face in her hands in distraught, “My best tipping customer is getting fed on by a monster with an enormous appetite! How could I have let this happen!?  _ How _ !?”

 

As much as how Law hated being called “best tipping customer” over and over again, it seemed it was his ticket to actually getting Nami to care for his situation. Sanji was kind of concerned for him. Adding Nami to his side wouldn’t hurt, maybe. Besides, that little bit about “getting fed on by a monster with an enormous appetite” was pretty alarming. What did that even mean? Did Law even want to know?

 

“Don’t worry about the tips.” Law found himself saying now, “That doesn’t have to change if I could just get to the bottom of everything so I can get back to my life.”

 

Nami sat up, her face suddenly bright and relieved as she clasped her hands together.

 

“So… So you’re not pissed at me? Like you’re not going to deny me the tips or anything!?”

 

Really? That was her main concern? 

 

Law shrugged.

 

“Unless you had a hand in getting me into this mess, why would I be pissed at you?”

 

“Oh, thank goodness!” Nami laughed, a hand flying to her chest with a relieved sigh. She giggled again and then loudly drank up the rest of her beer before slamming the empty can back down on the coffee table. “Okay. So now that  _ that’s _ out of the way, let’s move on to helping my favorite customer with all the shit that Luffy was supposed to take care of but didn’t.”

 

“Favorite customer” sounded much better than “best tipping customer” any day. Luffy, on the other hand, didn’t seem to quite think so judging by how he whipped his head towards Nami and looked threateningly at her.

 

“Nami, let me make it clear to you. He is  _ mine _ and  _ I’m _ going to take care of  _ everything _ .”

 

A normal woman would’ve been a bit timid or scared at being glared at by a monster, but not Nami. The woman just rolled her eyes away again with a sigh and a wave before reaching out for another beer can in the six-pack that Zoro had dropped earlier.

 

“No one’s stealing him from you, lover boy.” The beer can opened with a popping sound, “The last thing I need aside from bankruptcy is dependency on a host.” The girl took a swig from her drink and lightly wiped the foam off her lips when Sanji approached with a large plate of potato mojos and dip. “This is just my way of thanking Law for his continuous patronage.”  Nami looked at the plate delightfully and immediately tried to take one, but recoiled, flicking her fingers upon realizing they were still hot. She pouted a bit and opted to take one more gulp from her beer can instead. “You see, Luffy, this is why you should have paid attention to Crocus.”

 

“Who’s Crocus?” Law was thinking out loud as Luffy shot forward to grab some of the fried potato goodness.

 

“Crocus was an old warlock we came across way, way, way back.” Zoro reached for Sanji, but the man moved away from his hand, mouthing “dishes” before heading back to the kitchen. Zoro shrugged and leaned back on the couch, “He taught us lotsa shit about interacting with humans.”

 

“Which Luffy barely paid attention to.” Nami was finally able to take one of the mojos albeit still needing to blow on it and her fingers.

 

A warlock. They knew a warlock. Law felt even more hopeful that they could get rid of this bond so that he didn’t have to live with these pesky tattoos. All he had to do was find this warlock and—

 

“Too bad he got eaten by a werewolf.” Luffy said thoughtfully and put a whole mojo in his mouth.

 

Prior to this day, Law would’ve questioned the validity of the statement “got eaten by a werewolf”, but maybe he should be worried more by how his only reaction to that was, “There goes my glimmer of hope.” But that’s that. He wasn’t going to bother trying to resurrect a guy who was eaten by a werewolf. Sticking to the issue and being focused was not only easier, but also more plausible. 

 

“ _ With humans _ , you say.” Law moved his head away as Luffy tried to feed him with a piece of fried potato while he was talking, “So… I take it you’re...?”

 

“An incubus.” Zoro said casually and then swallowed hard, “I’m an incubus.”

 

Okay. Sure. Yeah. That made sense. This was why Zoro could afford to talk back to Luffy like he did. He was also a demon. The same kind of demon. It shouldn’t have been surprising, but Law could feel his eyes widen as his head turned to Zoro who just lifted the wine bottle at him as acknowledgement. Luffy reached for one of the couch pillows and threw it at the green-haired man who kicked it away effortlessly, making it bounce towards Nami who in turn swatted it away with a surprised squeak. Zoro laughed and ginger-haired girl retorted by raising a middle finger at him. 

 

“Sanji is his human.” Luffy said as he crawled back to sit on Law’s lap and tried to feed him potatoes.

 

Sanji. A human host. Now,  _ that _ was much more intriguing. Did he get Zoro’s tattoos, too? How? They were probably under his clothes since Law never saw any of it. Or maybe there was a way to hide them? He made a mental reminder to talk to Sanji later.

 

“Nami i—”

 

“I’m a succubus.” Nami interjected half-gulp, putting her beer can on the coffee table, “But I work at Sanji’s cafe so I can have my own money. A girl can never have enough money, after all. And unlike these two,” She pointed to both Luffy and Zoro, “I don’t have a human host. I only feed on men out of nature. The last thing I want is to be dependent on a single one. My goodness.” 

 

“Tss. You always have to work in the shade, though.” Zoro said before drinking from his wine bottle. Nami made a face.

 

“When you said we were going to wait for someone at The Spirale,” Law stretched his legs and pushed himself upward a bit so he didn’t drown in the bean bag, “I didn’t think you meant the employees.”

 

“Well, I thought we had to wait for Nami and Zoro to finish with work and all that.” Luffy was still poking Law’s mouth with a potato mojo. The man just gave up, opened his mouth, and let Luffy feed him much to his incubus’ glee. He was so happy, in fact, that he was already prepared to feed Law another one even as he was still chewing.

 

“Nami and Zoro? Not Sanji and Zoro?” Law raised an eyebrow before looking at the green-haired waiter chugging down his wine like it was water, “I mean, they have a bond, right?”

 

“Right, but it’s not like Sanji’s a warlock to know so much shit.” Luffy nodded as he bit on one mojo and just tossed the remaining half into Law’s mouth much to the man’s surprise. He didn’t choke, thankfully. The boy reached out for one of the beer cans, but Law jerked his leg to get Luffy’s attention and shook his head slightly. The boy shrugged but said nothing else.

 

“But he did take Zoro’s…”  Law wasn’t sure what to call them. He’d never seen any markings on Sanji. But still, he wasn’t entirely sure,  “Well…  _ Something _ … right?” 

 

“ _ Something _ .” Nami half-laughed as she shook her can to make sloshing sounds from within the possibly half-empty can. These demons liked drinking, don’t they? 

 

“Take?” Zoro put his feet on the coffee table. Sanji was quick to slap his ankles off it with a glare as he approached. The green-haired waiter was startled for a bit, but removed his feet from the surface, “ _ Has _ is more accurate. I gave my markings to Sanji.”

 

Sanji motioned to sit beside Zoro but something about seeing the beer cans made him stop, get up and walk back to the refrigerator.

 

“Gave?” Law sat up, one hand almost instinctively going to Luffy’s waist to brace him as the incubus shifted so he was sitting on Law’s leg. 

 

“Gave.” The blonde cook came back with two open bottles of orange juice, “It’s not like I can take them if I wanted to. First of all, I don’t know how.” The blonde man handed the bottles to Law’s small demon who took them with a wide smile and a “Thanks, Sanji”. 

 

“Well, neither did I.” Law said with a sigh, taking one bottle from Luffy’s hands, “But look where  _ that _ got me.”

 

“That bothers me a lot, you know.” Nami said, using the beer can in her hand to point at Law and Luffy, “How is it an accident? Like how would reading and claiming a demon’s name be an  _ accident _ ? Is it even possible to accidentally learn how to read?”

 

“If I had answers, I wouldn’t be here.” Law took one gulp from his bottle as Luffy started chugging down his own, one big swig after the other, “I can’t even  _ see _ tattoos on Sanji while I have a fuckton of Luffy’s all over me.”

 

“ _ You _ took them all.” Luffy finished up the last of his juice and placed the now empty bottle on the table, “I don’t see how it’s my fault.” 

 

“Yeah, but did you need to have this much?” Law sighed and pointed with his open hand at Zoro, “I don’t see any marks on Zoro  _ or _ Sanji for that matter. I, on the other hand,” Law flicked a finger on Luffy’s forehead, “Am literally covered in yours.”

 

“Because Luffy’s insanely strong.” Sanji said as he finally settled down beside Zoro who put an arm around his human’s shoulders, “I can’t even imagine how you managed to get all of those marks and transfer them onto you.”

 

_ I read them _ , Law wanted to say, but that wouldn’t make much sense. And he really wasn’t sure if “read” was the appropriate term. Like Nami said, no one accidentally learns how to read. It was more like the tattoos spoke to him. Or called out to him? Submitted? Law guzzled some orange juice as he tried to think.

 

“To give you an idea, a demon’s marks are his identity.” Nami said as she eyed the plate of mojos, pushing around the pieces with one finger like a picky little girl, “No two demons have the same mark.”

 

“So it’s like a fingerprint?”

 

“You could call it that except demon marks are more useful.” The wine bottle was totally empty when Zoro put it down, “Humans are silly. Can’t even read their own fingerprints without—”

 

“Shut up, Zoro.” Nami talked over him, waving like he didn’t matter. Zoro didn’t look offended as he chewed on two pieces of potato mojos and Nami continued talking, “It’s a bit more complicated than a finger print. Once your marks are on another being other than yourself—”

 

“It starts eating that person.” Zoro casually reached for a beer can but thought better of it.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

Obviously, that didn’t sound positive. Law looked at his fingers immediately just to be sure if his skin was trying to corrode without him knowing it.

 

“Zoro, you’re scaring him!” Luffy exclaimed, motioning to throw a mojo at Zoro had Sanji not sent him the sharpest warning glare of the day. The boy took his hand back and tried to feed the potato mojo to his human instead, “Don’t listen to him, Law. My tattoos on you are  _ fine _ . It just means I’m going to take care of you from now on. Now say, aah!”

 

“Again, don’t listen to these blundering, misleading fools.” Nami sighed, scratching her head and Law couldn’t blame her, “It’s more like… Whoever is wearing the mark is supposed to supply its original owner with mana.”

 

“Mana?”

 

Law had to stop himself from saying “Like magic points?”

 

Luffy was still trying to feed him the fried potato. The man just moved his head away without peeling his eyes from Nami as he shoved his orange juice bottle into Luffy’s hands. That served as a good enough distraction. The boy made an excited sound and murmured something before chugging down on the sweet drink. Nami took some sips of beer before pausing a bit to think.

 

“It’s like this.” She put the beer can down like it was distracting her, “Us demons are incapable of producing our own life source so we survive on fresh human blood. Among all the other things a human possesses, blood has the purest form of life essence. Mana.”

 

“Actually, eating human innards is an option,” Zoro was saying with his mouth full of mojos as Sanji popped open a beer can for himself, “But that’s going to kill the human and having a lot of those occurrences will get us hunted down. So we don’t do that. I mean just look at history.”

 

Leave it to a demon to talk about eating human entrails while stuffing his mouth with pieces of fried potatoes. Who knew  _ this _ was one of the things med school had prepared Law for?

 

“ _Fucking_ _hell_ Zoro, can you just—!” Luffy now motioned to throw the empty juice bottle at Zoro, but Sanji glared at him again although less meaner this time. Luffy grunted and put the bottle on the table before turning back to Law, “Don’t listen to that fucking cactus cyclops. I’m not going to eat your guts.”

 

“Baaaaaaack to the topic on haaaaand.” Nami threw an empty beer can that bounced off Luffy’s head. Law looked at Sanji who didn’t even shrug as Nami continued talking, “So all humans have mana but some of them tend to have more or better quality mana than others.”

 

“Like Sanji.” Zoro butt in, patting Sanji on the head. 

 

“And you!” Luffy flung his arms around Law.

 

Both humans in the room exchanged awkward looks of “I feel like a pet”.

 

“Yes, well…” Nami sighed with an impatience-laden voice as she ran her fingers across her eyebrow as if to soothe a migraine worm that’s crawling across her forehead, ”This allows humans to become an important source of life for demons like us. By nature, we are parasites. But this is where these bonds come in.”

 

Law leaned forward, nodding. This is what he came here for. Nami’s going to get extra tips for this.

 

”A human who is able to acquire and sustain the marks of a demon will become said demon’s only source of life essence in exchange for the demon’s services. Or loyalty. It depends.” Nami thoughtfully traced the rim of the beer can with her finger as she spoke, “The exact conditions of the bond can vary. What’s important for you to know is that the demon  _ has _ to be fed in exchange for  _ something _ . These conditions  _ always _ exist. It’s the backbone of the bond.”

 

“So Zoro and Sanji’s condition—”

 

“That’s a bit personal.” Sanji interrupted Law, “What you only need to know is that Zoro gave me his marks. The contract was initiated by him, but I had to agree to it before it could take effect. We’re equals. Once the conditions are no longer met, the contract will dissolve on its own.”

 

“It’s never going to break.” Zoro took Sanji’s beer can and lifted it to his lips, “I’ve told you that a couple of times”   
  


“Yeah, but…” Sanji reached for his can, but Zoro ignored him and just started to drink the beer. The blonde barista grumbled, but decided not to complain, “Law needed to know the kind of bond we have so he understands we’re not on the same boat.”

 

Wait, what? They didn’t have the same bond? What, there were different kinds of contracts now? So what kind of contract did he have with Luffy? What did he even  _ gain _ from all this?

 

“The difference is that Zoro gave his identity to Sanji.” Luffy said, shifting so he was leaning on Law’s chest, “You stole mine.”

 

“And I said you can have them back.” Law’s chin rested on top of Luffy’s head as he tried to look down.

 

“And  _ I _ said…” The boy took both of Law’s hands and put it on his stomach like some kind of seat belt, “...They won’t even respond to me when I called them back.”

 

“Which only means that Luffy has no say in breaking the contract.” Nami finally said. She had picked up her beer can again. 

 

Luffy had no say in the contract? What did that even  _ mean _ ? It felt like it took Nami forever to tip her head back and guzzle what’s left of her beer.

 

“Luffy is a familiar snared against his will.” Nami licked some beer foam off her lips before looking at Law,“This bond can only be broken from  _ your _ side.”

 

“How do I do that?”   
  
“You undo the ensnaring.” The girl said like it was the most normal thing in the world. Oh, what wouldn’t Law give for that to be the case?

 

“And how do I do  _ that _ ?”

 

Law sounded more impatient than he thought he was.

 

“Well, for that, you ask a warlock, which I am not.” Nami threw herself back on the chair, her arms resting on either side as she slid down so she was slouching, “The only one I know is already dead. So I’m sorry, I can’t help you there, favorite customer.”

 

“What if we recreate the scenario when Law stole the tattoos?” Sanji was munching on a mojo, “Would that work?”

 

Oh. Yeah. Maybe? Was that worth trying?

 

“No,” Luffy said with a tone of finality as he wiggled so that he fell between Law’s legs instead of sitting on his lap, “I’m not going to have Law be attacked by Bellamy or anyone again unless that someone is willing to be murdered by me.”

 

Law didn’t really want to agree with Luffy for the sake of pride, but he really couldn’t refute that. He was trying to gather enough courage to say that he was willing to risk it if it meant being rid of this ridiculous bond, but every fiber in his body was against it. Trauma was a bitch.

 

“Well, in any case, you need a warlock.” Nami sighed, waving a hand. Law threw himself back so he was lying on the bean bag. His arms loosened around Luffy who was awkwardly sliding off his human host.

 

A tattooed hand came up to cover the man’s eyes in frustration. They had to find a warlock. Where the fuck do they find a warlock in this day and age? It’s not like they could just post an online ad or put up wanted posters and wait for someone to come knocking on their door. And even if they  _ did _ try that, the chances of phonies showing up at their doorstep was much too high. Law was going to be convicted for homicide before he got out of this bond with Luffy.

 

“Looks like you’re going to be stuck with each other for a while.” Nami pushed herself forward and tapped the blonde man’s knee, “Hey, Sanji, maybe you could show Law that meal plan you have so he doesn’t go anemic and all that.”

 

“Oh.” Sanji blinked like he wasn’t paying attention earlier, “Oh. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Zoro chuckled and lovingly placed a kiss on Sanji’s head. Luffy made a small interesting noise before crawling back up so he could lie down on Law.

 

“Sating Luffy’s appetite will obviously be quite a burden.” Sanji stood up and started gathering the empty cans and bottles from the table. Zoro took his empty wine bottle and headed towards the kitchen with Sanji who chuckled, “I mean, look at you. You haven’t been together for twenty-four hours and you already look fatigued.”

 

“Yeah. That would be helpful. Thanks.” Law covered his eyes with his arm, the back of his mind still wondering about the possibility of finding a warlock and the consequences of living with an incubus for the rest of his life, “I’m already so exhausted and I haven’t even given him blood yet.”

 

“Excuse me?” The surprised tone from Sanji made Law remove his arm so he could look at other people in the room. Nami tilted her head, her hand stopping from dipping the mojo she was holding between her fingers.

 

“Law, what did you say?” Sanji was slowly putting the empty cans on the kitchen counter, eyes not leaving Law. Zoro picked up the cans and threw them one by one into the trash bin.

 

“I haven’t—”

 

Law could feel Luffy pull up the hood of his shirt as he curled up, nudging closer against his human.

 

“No, we heard.” Nami interrupted, inching forward so that she was at the edge of her seat, “It’s just that… why?”

 

“Why?” Law tried to push himself up on his elbows, but Luffy’s weight on him and the softness of the bean bag didn’t really allow him to do much.

  
“Law, weren’t you listening? You  _ have _ to feed Luffy if you’re wearing the marks.” Nami dropped the mojo back onto the plate, “If you fail to feed Luffy, his name on your skin will poison your blood!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I just found out there’s no such thing as the real world. Just a lie you got to rise above.” —No Such Thing by John Mayer
> 
> Sorry this took more than a week to get posted! This chapter underwent so many revisions and I’m sorry if it’s too long, but I just really couldn’t split it!


	5. When Innocent Strolls Go Yonder

When Law was younger, he wanted a pet but pets weren’t allowed in his uncle’s home where he lived. When he got the chance to live alone, he then became too busy to even think of taking care of a pet. Fast forward to today. Fate or nature or some torture-loving force of chance probably said, “Oh, let’s give him a pet  _ now _ ” and poof! He had Luffy. Sure, neglecting pets might have some repercussions but  _ poisoning your blood _ !? Really?! And while regular pets needed veterinarians and grooming professionals, Luffy needed a god damn  _ warlock _ . Seriously, taking care of a boa constrictor might have been much easier.

 

After that very long discussion that sounded like a brainstorming for an upcoming fantasy series, everyone picked up from where they had left off for the day. Nami had gone back to sleep. Zoro went downstairs to tend to the cafe. Law and Sanji stayed in the second floor for a while to discuss meals. At first, Luffy tried to join them, but that soon proved to be counterproductive since all he tried to do was put meat into Law’s diet based on the sole belief that he was going to taste it in Law’s blood. The only way the meal planning was ever going to move forward was for Luffy to go downstairs and be Zoro’s problem.

 

Law looked at this week’s meal plan that Sanji drafted for him. There were livers, oysters, and spinach among other things, which thankfully did  _ not _ include bread. 

 

“If you need help preparing any of those, you can just ask me.” Sanji pointed with his pen at the list, “I wrote my number at the bottom, but you’re always welcome to come over.”

 

“I’ll take you up on that offer one of these days.” Law sighed before smiling and then mentally cursing about how his phone is broken, “Is Zoro okay with you giving out your number?”

 

“What? Why wouldn’t he be?” 

 

“I don’t know.” Law shrugged, looking at the menu again in case there’s anything he’d forgotten to add or ask, “Luffy will probably bitch at me if I randomly gave out my contact details. I don’t even know how I know that.”

 

“Oh, you feel his thoughts as early as now? That’s good.”

 

What? What did he just say? Hold on, hold on.

 

“I feel his thoughts?” Law looked perplexingly at the blonde man beside him, “So you mean it’s not just him that feels my thoughts?”

 

“Huh? Yeah, it’s a two-way thing.” Sanji said, blinking at Law like he was supposed to know this already and god damn, he really should have, “Well, you don’t hear them as  _ words _ in your head. It’s not a telepathic bridge or anything, but, yeah, you can feel his thoughts.”

 

Dammit. Luffy didn’t tell him that. He did mention the borrowed heartbeat but nothing about Law being able to feel Luffy’s thoughts as well. It was scary to think about what the hell Law would have done without these people. Who knew if he’d have gone to a tattoo artist to have his markings erased?

 

But him feeling Luffy’s thoughts might explain a few things like how Law just  _ knew _ things and how he was so excited for breakfast this morning. Why did that part feel like Luffy was trying to take over his thoughts? What was this? A battle of wills?

 

“It’ll become easier for you to understand Luffy once you get the hang of it.” Sanji added as if to encourage Law but that just reminded him of being stuck with a demon for an undetermined span of time. Thinking about it just made him tired.

 

“I hope so. He’s really very suffocating. And clingy.” Law leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “I’m not used to that kind of shit.”

 

“They’re like that. Incubi, I mean.” Sanji laughed and leaned back on the couch, stretching his arms, “Very possessive and territorial. But they’re also fiercely loyal.”

 

“I get the feeling my already small circle of friends will become even smaller.” Law groaned as he carefully rolled the paper he was holding. 

 

“Well, if it helps, you could add the three of us to that circle.” Sanji tapped Law on the shoulder for encouragement. Law laughed with a small nod, “Yeah. Thanks. I really wouldn’t know what I’d have done if I hadn’t been able to talk to you guys.” Law sighed again and looked at Sanji, “Really. Thanks.”

 

It felt good having some other human to talk to about Law’s situation. He doubted he could talk about this to Penguin or Shachi at all. 

 

“Aww.” Sanji scratched his head, “I feel even guiltier now.”

 

“Guiltier?”

 

“Yeah, Luffy found you via The Spirale after all so I kind of feel responsible.” Sanji said as he looked up thoughtfully at the ceiling, “We  _ knew _ he liked you a lot and we knew he was stalking you.”

 

So that’s why Nami was wailing about how she just let it happen and that explained why Sanji was more concerned than a regular person would have been. Law wanted to be pissed or feel betrayed but he was kind of too tired for that right now. And he was still in the mood of being thankful to Sanji and everyone else that he couldn’t bring himself to blame them for not being preventive of anything.

 

“He was really very protective of you, too.” The barista continued without moving from his position, “We just didn’t think it’d escalate to this.”

 

“Protective? From what?” Law half-chuckled, “Other people?”

 

“No, other demons.” Only Sanji’s eyes moved to look at Law, “There were other demons that tried to eat you, but Luffy drove them all away.”

 

Okay, now Law had nothing to respond to that except to shoot his eyebrows up to the ceiling. So his life had been in peril since  _ when _ ? Why hadn’t anyone told him there were demons on his trail? How many? What kinds? How often? But, again, these were things that Law wasn’t sure if he wanted to know at all so he just shrugged and smiled.

 

“Well, we can’t do anything about that now, can we?”

 

“But, still, let me apologize.” Sanji dramatically put a hand on Law’s shoulder, “Sorry, man.”

 

“I’m going to have free coffee next time with that, won’t I?”

 

“Sure, why not?” The blonde barista laughed, “You can have one now if you want.”

 

“No, I prefer investing.” Law smiled, waving his finger at Sanji, “For the future, you know.”

 

Sanji laughed again, tapping him on the shoulder. Law wondered where Zoro’s marks were on this man and he really wanted to ask, but he decided to save that question for the future as well. Maybe someday. 

 

“So…” Law leaned back, sat up, and shook his head to get his consciousness properly up and running before standing up, ”I guess we have to go.”

 

“Oh, right. You should like… Head straight home and feed your incubus ASAP.”

 

True enough, that was one major concern that needed immediate attention.  _ Poison _ . It was obviously even more important than drafting a meal plan. Sanji and Nami were both insistent on having Luffy feed that instant, but the two incubi in the room thought it better to do it somewhere else. Luffy couldn’t guarantee that he wasn’t going to end up fucking Law if given the smallest chance to do so and Zoro was not having another incubi feeding within his territory. Nami seemed to understand and gave Law a serious once-over before commenting, “Well, okay, since he doesn’t seem to be dying yet.” 

 

_ Yet _ . As if that was very reassuring. It wasn’t like Law was in any position to insist on feeding his incubus right then and there anyway. So if he was going to die from blood poisoning due to familiar negligence then… so be it?

 

“Yeah, I’ll do that.” Law said as he thought of his broken phone, “After I take care of a couple of things.”

 

“Law, it’s  _ poison _ .”

 

Law nodded. He’d like to say he was a medical student, but that really didn’t help much when a  demon’s tattoos are trying to consume your blood, did it? Anyone understood what poison meant and that it had to be dealt with immediately. But Law kind of needed to mentally prepare himself before he gave blood to Luffy. Plus he needed to get his phone fixed so he could stall with practicality in mind.

 

“Thanks for this.” Law slightly raised the rolled paper he was holding, “Please say thanks to Nami for me as well.”

 

“Sure, no problem.” Sanji walked with him towards the stairs and chuckled, ”Although she might be expecting a different kind of thanks.”

 

“Kinda foresaw that.” Law shrugged with a slight shake of his head and a smile. Regardless of how money-hungry Nami was, it was undeniable that she  _ did  _ help a lot in enlightening Law about this new world he was now part of, “I was thinking of buying her something. I’m not sure. My mind’s still a bit hazy.”

 

“ _ Poison _ , I tell you.”

 

Law just laughed. Sanji laughed with him.

 

* * *

 

Luffy was slouched on Law’s designated spot in the cafe on the first floor. He was so  _ bored _ . He missed Law already. What was taking them so long? How much longer did they have to work on that food plan? Meat was always good. What about that was difficult to understand? And how  _ dare _ they kick him out of the second floor! Law was  _ his _ human. They should have a definite talk about how these loyalty things worked.

 

“Luffy, are you even listening to me?” Zoro was sitting on the chair opposite Luffy’s, “What do you  _ mean _ you haven’t told Law about your brothers?” 

 

Zoro was so fucking stupid. 

 

“I meant I haven’t told Law about my brothers.” The little incubus said with a pout. There was no alternative way to say it. Sometimes, Luffy thought Zoro lost his common sense along with his eye when he made a pact with Sanji.

 

“And when do you plan on telling him about those two rowdy and overprotective creatures, hm?” Zoro leaned forward. Luffy just continued pouting at him so Zoro was compelled to explain further, “Your human is none of my business, but Sanji feels affected by this so now  _ I’m _ being dragged into it as well.”

 

Luffy sighed.

 

“I don’t know how to tell him.”

 

“How is that even a problem? Just tell him you have two older brothers. A mischievous higher demon and a jinn.”

 

“But they’re  _ crazy _ !” Luffy leaned forward, slamming his palms hard on the table. That earned him several glares and suspicious looks from other customers. Zoro had to apologize for the slight outburst before turning back to his small friend and whispering, “Law is going to fucking  _ hate you _ if your brothers introduce themselves to him.”

 

“Hmm...” Luffy chewed on his lower lip, “He  _ does _ hate being uninformed…”

 

“See?” Zoro leaned back, “Law’s eventually going to meet your brothers sooner or later. The best you can do is to prepare him for the worst.”

 

“The worst is that we don’t have sex.” Luffy’s eyes were widely staring at a distance as he spoke thoughtfully, “No sex with Law.  _ Ever _ .”

 

Zoro wanted to kick his friend in the face.

 

“The worst is that Ace sets your human on fire.”

 

Luffy turned horrifically to Zoro, “Oh my god, I can’t have sex with  _ ashes _ !”

 

“Luffy?” Law’s voice was all it took for Luffy’s attention to perk up and zone in on the man from the other end of the room. The little incubus stood up immediately, running to his human as fast as “was humanly possible”. He once moved too fast in the cafe, it startled the customers and broke two tables. Zoro practically wanted to dismember him for causing a commotion.

 

“Laaaaw!” Luffy lost no time hugging his human. He tucked away the idea of talking about this brothers for now.

 

“Don’t run in the cafe.” Law reprimanded with a click of his tongue as he watched his incubus nuzzle against his chest.

 

“But I missed you!” 

 

“Stop overreacting. I was upstairs for fifteen minutes.” Law sighed. Sanji laughed. Luffy just continued rubbing his nose against Law’s chest.

 

“It’s not overreacting.” The boy muttered, taking one deep inhale, “I haven’t fed so being away from you is torture.”

 

Law wanted to roll his eyes away, but Zoro said, “He’s not lying.”

 

For some reason, that reminded Law of how Luffy fended off other demons for him over the past two weeks. Sure, he  _ was _ stuck with this clingy young man, but maybe it could’ve been worse. What would’ve happened if he’d accidentally ensnared someone like  _ Bellamy _ ? Clingy, big Bellamy. Oh, what a fucking  _ nightmare _ . Holy hell, how would that huge piece of shit even pass as Law’s pretend boyfriend? Cora-san might have called the cops if Vergo didn’t shoot him first.

 

“Well, we have to go.” Law put a hand on Luffy’s head and turned to Sanji and Zoro, “Thanks again.”   
  
“Sure.” Sanji smiled and Zoro just nodded with his arms crossed.

 

“Come on.” Law took Luffy’s hand and led him out of the cafe.

 

* * *

  
  


Law feared it was going to take a while to get his phone fixed with the broken everything, but he didn’t expect it to take a week or so. Great, how was he supposed to contact people now that he was  _ phoneless _ !? Giolla and the other professors were going to be on his case. God, he sure hoped Robin wouldn’t get pissed at him, too, for not being able to help out in the library  _ and _ being out of reach. He now regretted having sold his back up unit to Bonney. What was he going to use now?

 

“You look upset.” Luffy mumbled as they walked out of the phone repair shop and into the mall hallway.

 

“I’m without a phone.” Law grunted as he looked at the people walking around. Good thing it was a weekday. The mall was packed during weekends and he wasn’t in the mood to get bumped by people as he walked around. He had neither the strength and the patience to deal with normal human negligence or stupidity or, worse,  _ both _ .

 

“Do you want me to get you one?” The boy said casually, which made Law turn curiously as the demon continued speaking, “If it’s making you upset that you don’t have a phone, I’ll get you one.”

 

“And where do you plan on getting one?” Law raised an eyebrow, wondering if demons actually knew how to use phones. Or if maybe Luffy had a phone of his own that he could borrow. Or if Luffy could spawn items out of nowhere.

 

“I don’t know.” The little demon shrugged much to Law’s dismay, “Where do you usually get phones?”

 

“We usually buy them from stores.”

 

“Buy?” Luffy dismissed Law with a wave, “No, no, no, no. Who said anything about  _ buying _ ?”

 

Right. Law should’ve known better than to expect Luffy to have any form of proper judgment. Maybe taking what he could was the way things worked in his world, but not in  _ this _ world. Not with Law. 

 

“Okay,  _ no _ .” the man stopped walking and firmly looked at Luffy, “You’re not going to take anything that isn’t yours, do you understand? That’s stealing and that’s wrong. You’re not supposed to do that.”

 

“But it’s bothering my human!” Luffy stomped one foot. His shoes really were too big for him.

 

“Stealing would bother me ten times more.” Law mumbled as he leaned in towards Luffy to stress that he was serious, “So don’t steal, okay?”

 

Luffy pouted and looked away but nodded. Law didn’t feel convinced.

 

“You promise?”

 

The incubus sighed and bit his lip for a while before looking at Law like he was sorting out his options. Law tilted his head, raising his eyebrows to show Luffy he was expecting a good answer from him. For a while, the little demon grumbled incoherently before he sighed again, shoulders dropping and giving up, “Fine. I promise.”

 

“Good.” Law straightened and took Luffy by the hand. It wasn’t the first time they’d held hands, but this sudden gesture caught Luffy off-guard, making him jump a bit. He was blushing, wasn’t he? Law’s mind went back to his conversation with Sanji. Feeling his thoughts, huh? Law really wasn’t eager walking around hand-in-hand with Luffy or anyone for that matter, but he really wasn’t keen on having Luffy wander around when he wasn’t looking either. He wondered if Luffy knew that.

 

“Where are we going?”

 

“To get you some clothes.” Law mumbled, thinking about the cost and the remaining credits on his emergency credit card, “You can’t keep on borrowing mine.”

 

“But I  _ want _ to borrow yours!” Luffy complained loudly as he gripped Law’s hand, “I want to wear  _ your _ clothes because they all smell like you!”

 

Had it been another day and another person, Law would’ve labeled this conversation “creepy as fuck” followed by a rushing, blazing restraining order. 

 

“They don’t fit you.” Law reasoned and Luffy made a complaining whimper. He was such a child.

 

“They’re  _ fine _ . They’re just not exactly my size, but they’re  _ fine _ !” Luffy tugged on Law’s hand as they kept on walking, “ _ Please _ , Law.”

 

“I’m going to run out of clothes before laundry day if you keep on wearing my stuff!”

  
Also, what were the chances of Luffy actually tearing his good clothes? He really wasn’t the careful type and sure the ones he was wearing now were still good and unharmed, but what about in the future? What about unremovable stains? What about getting the hem of his shirt getting caught into, well,  _ spikes _ or whatnot?

 

“Then just buy new ones for yourself!” Luffy tugged his hand again. Stronger this time. “Laaaaaw,  _ pleeease _ !”

 

Law stopped to contemplate for a bit. If he considered that he wasn’t going to spend eternity living with Luffy, it might be more practical if he bought clothes for himself and let Luffy use his old ones. He might have some clothes he had outgrown in his room at Cora-san’s place so maybe Luffy could use those, too.

 

The little incubus was looking at him with such a doe-eyed stare.

 

“Okay.” Luffy laughed, prancing around Law without letting go of his hand even as the man continued speaking, “But we’re getting you some pants, shorts, and shoes.” Law stopped and added, “And underwear.”

 

“Underwear!?” Luffy immediately stopped his fanfare with a quite offended tone, “Can’t I use yours!?”

 

“Fucking  _ no _ .”

 

* * *

  
  


Fucking heaven and hell, shopping was easier said than done. Luffy found this out the hard way. He really didn’t know what he was expecting. Looking at these flimsy things and sorting out which looked good and which didn’t was utterly and painfully  _ boring _ . The only redeeming factor about this was that it was an activity with his human, but now that he was sitting in one corner where he watched Law pick out clothes, even  _ that _ redeeming factor was trying to un-redeem itself. So god damn  _ boring _ . Law already had one or two or maybe thirty-five hanging on his arm. Why did he need to choose more? When was he going to be done? Why couldn’t he just choose one and get fifty of that? Like who  _ cared _ if it’s all the same?

 

“Laaaaw.” Luffy groaned, leaning back and outstretching his legs.

 

“Zip it.” Law didn’t even bother to look at him as he sorted through things hung around in a hoop thing that—Luffy didn’t really  _ care _ . Dear god, this must be what Ace felt whenever Sabo made him figure out wearing clothes. Maybe Sabo spent a lot of time in places like this. After all, where’d he get ideas for changing his outfit every so often. Having shape-shifting abilities sure helped, didn’t it? 

 

The incubus sighed and tried to occupy himself with his surroundings, which wasn’t really all that interesting to be honest. This stupid place also played music coming from the ceiling or wherever, not that it was helpfully entertaining. Whoever was singing had a big issue with bitches, booty, and what in the fucking hell was a boo? 

 

There were other humans in the area as well. Luffy’s current location mostly seemed to have men in it although there were women walking around from time-to-time. Luffy assumed that big rectangle that said “Men’s Apparel” had something to do with the lack of females. Not that Luffy cared. He just found it rather odd that they had to be sorted like human restrooms did. It’s not like people waved their dicks around this place anyway.

 

“Luffy.”

 

The boy quickly turned his head to his human who nodded for him to come. Oh was he done?  _ Finally! _ Law turned to go as soon as he saw Luffy get up and follow.

 

“Where are we going?” 

 

“Dressing room.”

 

“Whaaaat!?” Luffy’s shoulders hunched in frustration, “What do you need a  _ dress _ for!? You don’t need a dress! You’re  _ fine _ !”

 

“That’s not what I meant.” Law made a turn, walking around more weird contraptions with hanging clothes that Luffy was ready to knock over in case Law thought he wanted to look at them again.

 

“I meant fitting room. Changing room.” Law stopped walking and looked at Luffy, “You understand?”

 

Luffy just stared at him with furrowed eyebrows.

 

“I’ll take that as a no.” Law sighed, scratching his head lightly before pointing to a row of stalls, “See that? You’re going to get in one of those cubicles and try out the pants I have here while I wait for you outside.”

 

Luffy’s expression did not change. Try out the pants? The hell did that mean? 

 

“Okay, let’s try that again.” Law sighed louder this time, more frustrated and woah, someone tell this man he wasn’t the only one feeling irked, “What you do is you get in that stall, take off your pants—” Those four words immediately made Luffy’s expression shift from what-the-fuck-are-you-talking-about to keep-talking-you-have-my-attention.

 

“—I’m not going to join you in the room—” 

 

His face switched to what-is-the-point-of-this-conversation-then almost immediately.

 

“And then you wear the ones I got you.” Law lifted one of the brown things he was holding. Luffy was still waiting for any ideal progress in Law’s instructions, “And then you show me once you have it on. You got that?”

 

“That sounds too much to do.” Luffy frowned. He wasn’t lying.

 

“How is that too much?” The human scratched his head again, “Get in. Remove current pants. Wear new pants. Come out. Show me. What is complicated about that?”

 

Luffy grumbled for a while.

 

“What happens after I show you?”

 

“Well, if it’s good then you’ll try another one and if it’s not, we’ll check why. Like size or color or…”

 

Luffy had now concluded that shopping was an endless stream of doing things that were so boring, it was going to physically  _ hurt _ the brain.

 

“Uuuurgh!” Luffy turned around, his hands shooting in the air, “So boring! I don’t want!”

 

“Can you at least  _ try _ ?” Law was this close to slapping the back of Luffy’s head with the denim he was holding, “I picked some of this shit out for you and I’m going to pay for it, too. The least you can do is  _ cooperate _ , you ingrate.”

 

“Some of that are mine?” Luffy turned to his human, “For whom are the others?”

 

“Who do you think? The mayor?” Law raised an eyebrow, “Some of these are mine.”

 

“Then why don’t  _ you _ fit them while I—” Luffy paused, replaying the instructions in his head. Get in. Remove current pants. Wear new pants. Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait,  _ wait _ .

 

“I didn’t get any pants for myself, Luffy.” Law’s eyes narrowed. Eh? Was the human able to feel his thoughts now? 

 

“So…” Luffy mentally recalled the instructions and tried piecing things together himself, “You get to wear nothing after you remove current pants?”

 

“No, that means I don’t remove current pants because I got shirts.”

 

“So... you remove current shirt, right?”

 

“I don’t really—”

 

“Yes, you do really.” Luffy wasn’t sure what Law was going to say but he was sure it had something to do with getting into one of those cubicles and Luffy was going to be damned if this wasn’t going to work in his favor.

 

“I’m not getting in that tiny space without you.” Luffy put his hands on his waist, “If I’m fitting shit, you’re fitting shit with me.”

 

“Luffy.”

 

“I will at least  _ try _ , like you said, but you try, too.” The little demon cocked his head left and right as he waved a finger, “It’s a compromise, Law. A compromise.”

 

Honestly, Luffy wasn’t sure what compromise meant. He just heard it from Sabo one time and that convinced Ace to do something so he figured that word was worth remembering. Law grumbled for a while, studying Luffy who just kept wearing a bright, hopeful smile for his pretty little human. After several moments, Law groaned with an eyeroll and nodded at Luffy before prodding him into the cubicles, “Fine, fine.”

 

Well, what did you know? The compromise word worked! Maybe it  _ was _ a magic word! Luffy chuckled excitedly as he skipped happily, humming alongside Law.

 

“Get in.” Law held one of the doors open. He’d chosen the last and furthest stall. Luffy wondered if that meant something as he shrugged and stepped inside. Wow. It was a really tiny box with barely any room to fit two people. There was also a really huge mirror the size of the wall facing the door. Luffy looked at his reflection. Oh. He didn’t have to make a conscious effort to make himself visible in mirrors anymore. And he looked quite different in human clothes, didn’t he? He looked almost... human. Especially without the markings on his skin. He could also see Law behind him via the reflection, which was cool because Luffy didn’t have to turn around. Mirrors were awesome things.

 

“Okay.” Law handed Luffy one of the dark blue pants made of thick, rough cloth, “Try this on.”

 

“Are you going to watch me?” Luffy mumbled, looking at the piece of clothing being presented to him. It really didn’t look like anything special aside from the fact that Law picked it out specifically for him. 

 

“ _ No _ .” Law frowned, pushing the pair of pants towards Luffy, “We’re going to face away from each other and do our own shit.”

 

“Okay.” Luffy nodded, recalling the instructions earlier. Get in. Remove current pants. Wear new pants. He’d done the first part. He needed to do the second one. Luffy turned around lifted the hem of his hooded shirt and gathered it up under his chin so he could look at the waistband of his pants. He was expecting to see a button, but he came face-to-face with a buckle instead. What the fuck? How did this work again?   
  
Luffy experimentally poked the brass thing with a finger, trying to think back on how Law put this shit together earlier, but all that came back to him was the feet string tying incident outside Law’s house. Great, brain. Thanks. He tried lifting one part of it with his fingers, but it felt like it was going to come apart if he did that and he really didn’t want Law to pound him in the head for ruining his gear, armor, whatever the hell this was for. 

 

Besides, who knew if this thing just snapped like a venus flytrap and rendered his dick useless because of some shitty accident!?

 

“Law.” Luffy mumbled, a bit pissed, glaring at the buckle one more time just to be sure it knew he meant business before lifting his eyes towards the mirror.

 

And holy fuck.

 

There he was, Luffy’s beautiful human, in the process of shedding his top clothing like he was nature’s gift to mankind except Luffy got lucky and now he’s all his. Half of his torso was already exposed when Luffy tuned in, but that didn’t make it any less interesting. If anything, that just made it a little more sensual and tempting, as everything seemed to play out in slow motion. His shirt was like a curtain being lifted on an amazing masterpiece of lean, toned muscle highlighted in all the right places. It was easy to imagine sweat trickling down that figure and it was very, very alluring to think of what Luffy could lick off that skin. This man was born to break hearts, maybe, and Luffy felt himself damn lucky to be ensnared by this glorious mortal. Worth starving for, this Trafalgar Law.

 

It wasn’t the first time Luffy had seen Law shirtless. Heck, if he was going to be honest he’d seen him almost naked in the past two weeks, but this room was too small and he was too close, too reachable. The little demon took time to study the markings on his human’s back. The dark lines were contrasting so well with his tanned skin, showing off the cuts of his back muscles like these tattoos were meant to be  _ his _ right from the very beginning.

 

It was only when Law pulled the clothing off and over his head did Luffy manage to swallow and start breathing again. It felt like decades. How was he supposed to  _ not _ want to be fucked by this man?  _ How _ !?

 

There was a sudden thundering sound in Luffy’s head. Was that his heart? Was he capable of having his own heartbeat now? He wasn’t sure if he cared, really. The pounding in his whole persona was loud and aggressive. He could smell Law’s blood, could feel it flowing in his veins, practically humming for him to come over and have a taste, like it was begging to be on Luffy’s lips. 

 

Good god, Luffy wasn’t sure what to make of this whole shopping concept and he had forgotten the instructions on how he was supposed to try out the pants. 

 

Luffy hadn’t said anything else after calling out his human’s name and it was a bit peculiar to the other man in the small room. Law frowned slightly and stopped from reaching for the shirt he was going to try on, wondering if he should take a look to see what was wrong.

 

“Luffy?” Law called experimentally.

 

“Law.” was the only soft reply. Okay, what? That didn’t sound right. The man curled his lips and knotted his eyebrows for a while as he contemplated on what the hell was going on behind him. He hadn’t made up his mind about turning around yet when he felt a small body against his back, breath ghosting over his skin, soft gentle kisses following soon after.

 

The immediate response was supposed to be to jerk and yell and ask Luffy what the fuck he thought he was doing. But the demon’s palms slid from behind, fingers tracing the waistband of Law’s pants as his palms slid upward, feeling every inch of skin it came across. It was too late for Law to distinctly tell his body not to shudder. His traitorous system quivered, the hairs on the back of his neck and across his arms stood up, leaving him nothing but forming tight fists to get some resolve from as he felt Luffy’s body press closer.

 

“Law.” 

 

The breath on his skin was only warm, not fiery, but it felt like it was capable of setting his skin ablaze. Everywhere those lips touched felt like it was going to burn and spread heat without Law being able to do anything.

 

No, he was imagining things. This was just stimuli. Law could fight it by countering it with—Fuck, how was he to do that if Luffy was licking his skin? How was his tongue soft and wet and hot all at the same time? Law could only feel the tip of Luffy’s tongue travelling with quick, gentle, little movements as if he was carefully tasting, slowly lapping him up like melting ice cream, and now god damn, it was difficult to breathe.

 

“Luffy, what are you doing?”

 

His voice came out without resolve.

 

“I can’t calm down.” Luffy whispered, sucking on Law’s skin to make him fidget, “I can’t calm down next to you like this.”

 

“L-Luffy…”

 

_ Luffy, no, _ he was going to say, but the boy’s palms slowly sliding up and down on Law’s sides made him swallow his words. Those little fingers crawled across his abs, traced his muscles, and ran up towards his chest, pushing their bodies even closer than it was earlier if that were even possible. The fire from the pit of Law’s stomach was spreading up to his joints, going up to his face, searing down south between his legs where it mattered too much.

 

“Law.” the boy breathed across his skin. He swallowed hard and audibly. Law closed his eyes, telling himself over and over that no, no, no. But his brain was foggy, his body was weak, and his resolve was shattering. The pads of Luffy’s fingers traced around his nipples teasingly, not playfully, but just temptingly painful for Law’s tastes and just enough for his manhood to pay attention. 

 

_ Stop _ , he wanted to say. But he didn’t. 

 

“If you don’t stop...” Law murmured instead, carefully choosing his words, careful not to talk a lot, careful not to spill his emotions in between, careful to not let his voice crack. 

 

“I won’t stop.” Luffy whispered lowly and hotly, “You don’t want me to.”

 

“Yes, I want you to.” Law’s fists tightened like it was the only thing that could keep him sane at the moment. Luffy moved forward, pressing his body closer so he could lean up to whisper into Law’s ear. There was a distinct hardness pressing behind him. Law didn’t have to think much to figure out what it was.

 

“Luffy, I want you t—Nngh!”

 

Luffy’s fingers deliciously twisted Law’s shamelessly hardened nipples that Law had to cover his mouth to keep himself from making noise as his other hand tried to grab onto the door for support.

  
“You want me, Law.”

 

Maybe. He had grown hard in his pants and god fucking damn it if he was going to start leaking. But he wasn’t going to say any of that out loud.

 

“Luffy, I... want you to stop.”

 

His little incubus just chuckled and fuck, damn, if even  _ that _ sounded erotic to Law then he was probably beyond saving.

 

“No, you  _ want me _ .”

 

He stressed the words like he’d cut Law’s sentence right where he should have and the accuracy of that felt like a bit too much to think of. It was more trapping than the four walls around them. Shit. He wasn’t even looking at Luffy and the boy wasn’t even missing an article of clothing, but for some fucking bizarre reason, the only thing that was coming back to Law was an image of Luffy shirtless. And wet. And dripping. And huffing. And flushed red. Begging. Almost sobbing in desperation for more. More. 

 

_ More, Law. _

 

No. 

 

Stop.

 

“You want me.”

 

He did? Yeah, maybe Law did. No, stop beating around the bush. He  _ did _ want this little thing whether out of lust or some other worldly pleasure he couldn’t put a finger on right now, but yeah. The want was undeniably  _ there _ and Law was desperately trying to push it aside in favor of being logical.

 

“You can have me.”

 

The offer echoed. Law went deaf.

 

Here? In this small fitting room with barely any space for them to move? But wasn’t it fine how it was right now? With Luffy so close to him like this, it felt like there was some room they could move around on. Not like they needed so much room to begin with anyway. So space wasn’t an issue now, was it? But with people outside? No, they would know. They would hear. They would listen to how Law was going to make Luffy say his name like a breathless prayer, crying for more with every touch, with every kiss, with every movement of his fingers, with every thrust of his hips, and that was just a little too much, maybe? 

 

No. That might not even be enough.

 

“You can have me.” 

 

Fuck everything.

 

“Right now.”

 

Law turned in one movement, shoving Luffy towards the mirror and recklessly crashing their lips together because that was the only way he could think of to shut this boy up. Their mouths were immediately open and hungry, Law’s tongue sliding to explore as soon as it could and oh, he tasted like honey, blazing fire, and granted wishes. The man pressed himself closer towards Luffy who just moaned in delight, his fingers entangling with Law’s hair or tracing his back like some sinful encouragement to keep going. And Law gave in to that persuasion, yes, he did.

 

Luffy’s tongue pressed against his, not trying to dominate, but equally as hungry. He kissed fervently as he pulled Law closer, nails slightly digging into his skin and maybe Law should’ve slapped him for that but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Having the boy’s tongue dancing with his inside his mouth demanded too much attention. He wanted to kiss him so much so that his name would escape from lips that he had made red and swollen. 

 

Hands were everywhere. Law felt like he didn’t know where to touch first as his hands slid almost frantically under Luffy’s shirt. The boy squirmed delightfully, coaxing him for more, and shutting down his senses enough to throw logic out of the door. He didn’t need it, not with Luffy’s hands feeling excitedly all over him. 

 

They didn’t need clothes either. They really didn’t need it right now.

  
“Luffy.” Law whispered hotly into his little demon’s mouth, “Luffy, wait.”

 

“I can’t wait.” The boy kissed his jaw, licked his skin, fingers crawling across his scalp to cease his brain from functioning. And it worked. His brain just melted in his skull in a delightful mix of freedom and rebellion. One of Luffy’s hands slid down quickly and expertly, probably leaving burn marks in its wake as it travelled knowingly so that it was grabbing Law’s aching hardness in one instant. Law groaned, his hips bucking forward once as he leaned harder against Luffy, “You can’t wait either, Law.” Luffy pressed their lips together, “We can’t wait.”

 

“Fuck.” 

 

Law’s mouth latched onto Luffy’s neck and the gasp that came out of that was glorious like sunrise. He moaned like sweet wine. Maybe he was too loud, but that didn’t matter, no. Not now when Luffy’s hips were moving against Law’s like he was going to die in the next few seconds if they didn’t escalate. Now that wouldn’t be nice, would it? Dying needy and aching?

 

Long, tattooed fingers grabbed Luffy by the ass—fuck, how did his ass feel so good in his hands—and lifted him. Luffy hummed appreciatively, tightly gripping Law’s hair as he wrapped his legs around the man’s torso and grinding like there was no tomorrow. Who the fuck cared about tomorrow? Who the fuck even cared about  _ later _ ? Law moved his hips to meet Luffy’s movement, the delicious friction making him grunt despite the thick material of their pants that should’ve gone to hell right now. He was being louder than he’d normally permit himself to be, but he couldn’t care. He really couldn’t care.

 

And damn, wasn’t Luffy looking ever so hot as he leaned back against the mirror, legs around Law’s torso and hands on Law’s shoulders. His head was tipped back. His mouth was open. His breaths came out hot and needy and Law wondered what the little incubus wanted Law to do to him. What was going on in his head? Could he maybe take a look? 

 

“Luffy.” Law panted, placing kisses wherever he could, as images of his begging little demon swarmed his consciousness, “Luffy, fuck...”

 

“I can’t take it.” Luffy gasped needily and desperately, “I can’t take it anymore.”

 

Law drew back to look at him, which proved to be a stupid fucking decision. Luffy hissed and growled, fangs bare, a second away from puncturing Law’s skin and drinking his blood. And that did it. The mood just died for the man. Almost all his strength left his body too sudden and too soon that he almost dropped Luffy. He peeled himself off his incubus almost instantly, recoiling and bracing himself for danger, but his mind and body weren’t coordinated. His heart almost stopped beating in surprise and fear, his knees wobbling, struggling to keep himself up. It was a good thing the door was there to support him or else he would’ve just fallen back.

 

Luffy’s reaction was just as surprised as he slid down from the wall. His first thought was that he had hurt Law, but there was no taste of blood in his mouth. It was Law’s eyes that told him it was  _ Luffy’s fangs _ that caused him to back away in trepidation with a quick flash of panic and confusion across his face. 

 

Luffy wanted to punch himself. That was a mistake. He was impatient. The blatant fear in Law’s eyes practically walloped him in the gut.

 

“I’m sorry.” Luffy said immediately, fighting the urge to apologetically kiss Law’s forehead as he sank on one knee. Luffy knelt beside him, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.”

 

“No.” Law shook his head, a hand moving up to his temple like it could steady his mind and vision, “No, it’s... I’m… I’m sorry, too, I…” The man sat on the floor and moved back until he was leaning on one of the walls. He tried to outstretch his legs, but the small space could only let him do so much.

 

“Let me just breathe for a while.” He said with eyes closed.

 

Was he angry? It didn’t seem like he was. But why wasn’t he? Luffy bit his lip as he watched his human take deep inhales to calm himself down. What was he supposed to do when humans couldn’t breathe? How was he supposed to take care of Law? 

 

Ah, it was difficult to think when Law’s taste still lingered on Luffy’s lips. The way the man explored his mouth was so highly satisfying, it was almost difficult to believe it was happening. 

 

“Maybe we should buy you clothes some other day.” Law mumbled, eyes still closed as he tried to will away the images of Luffy’s breathless form,  “Maybe we could get you just the shoes today.”   
  


“Okay.” Luffy nodded, looking at Law’s hand and wondering if it was all right for him to hold it. Luffy really wanted to touch him not for sexual reasons, but just to make him feel that he cared, “Okay, whatever you want.”

 

Now that he was coming to his senses, Law could hear murmurs coming from the outside. And, aw, shit. It was like those moments when you did something strong, hard, extreme, and  _ stupid _ that seemed to be a good idea at the time thanks to adrenaline. And then everything including shame and dignity came crashing down with your body when you run out of the rush. Same thing with alcohol, except Law wasn’t the kind to get wasted beyond his limits to make a fool out of himself and make decisions he would eternally regret. That was Bonney.

 

“Do you…” Luffy said meekly, handing Law his shirt. The man permitted himself a smile and a small thank you before reaching out for his garment and putting it on. He could still feel Luffy’s heaving eyes scouring his torso. Was it bad if Law felt flattered by that? How many people could say, “An incubus likes me and he’s practically begging to have sex with me”? Not many, right? 

 

Law wanted to kick himself inwardly. Stop revelling in the problem. 

 

“We should go.” Law pushed himself up. Luffy was offering him a hand to help him stand, but Law saw it too late. The way the boy’s eyes shifted towards the floor made Law’s heart stop for a while so he suddenly grabbed Luffy’s small hand as he gathered the clothes they were supposed to try on. Luffy looked at him—confused but thankful with a splash of pink on his cheeks.

 

He was cute, wasn’t he?

 

No. Nope. Don’t be fooled. Incubi are  _ supposed _ to be attractive. It’s a trap. What was he thinking?

 

Without a word, Law unlocked the door and consciously stepped out.

 

“Eh? Law?” Male voice. Law looked up slowly, recognizing said voice and knowing full well that the next few moments are going to be awkward and insane but still hoping to heavens he was wrong.

 

The stupid hats he saw told Law his fate was sealed.

 

“Penguin.” Law muttered emotionlessly at his two friends who were standing right in front of him like some sort of bad dream.

 

“Law?” Shachi tilted his head and looked into the changing room that Law was emerging out of along with the incubus that he had not intended to introduce to anyone else yet. Law took a deep breath as Shachi and Penguin exchanged looks before glancing confusedly between Luffy and Law. Penguin’s mouth opened slowly in sluggish realization and shock and Law thought maybe he could fit a fist in that cavern-like mouth.

 

“L-Law, y-you…!”

 

“Urgh.” Law slapped his forehead and ran a frustrated palm down his face, “Okay, guys, listen...”

 

“Hooooookay, no, wait!” Penguin stepped back, making weird, quick, flailing gestures with his hands as he pointed between him and Luffy and the changing room, “ _ You _ were with  _ this guy _ in  _ that _ stall and making  _ those _ noises!?” 

 

_ Sure, everyone needed to know that, Pen, thanks very much. _

 

“Also.” Shachi poked Law’s collarbone and he was lucky they were friends or Law would’ve suckerpunched him without a care, “Fucking tattoos, man. Who  _ are _ you?”

 

“More like  _ who’s that kid _ !?” Penguin had not moved on from his frantic disposition and Law was highly considering “slip into comatose” as an attractive solution. And referring to Luffy as “kid” was a bit too much. Luffy didn’t look  _ that _ young. Or was that Penguin’s way of saying Law looked old? Why was he friends with these idiots?

 

“I’m Luffy.” His overly outgoing incubus smiled too brightly for Law’s sanity.

 

“And you are Law’s…?” Shachi tilted his head, waiting for Luffy to fill in the blank he had left as Penguin leaned forward in high anticipation. And Law could just see it coming—the explosion of surprise and the debris that came with it. Luffy was going to have  _ one answer _ and Law didn’t really have any choice but to let him say it because that was the only logical thing they could tell people about their set-up without spilling the whole incubus ensnaring issue.

 

“Boyfriend.” There went the sure, immediate response as Law felt Luffy squeeze his hand. The little demon loved saying that, didn’t he? It was good that Law was asleep when Luffy spoke to Cora-san and Baby Five.

 

So thanks to that, Penguin had gone pale. Shachi had backed as far as he could in one movement. Law groaned inwardly. Luffy squeezed his hand again.

 

This was going to be one long day.

**-End of Chapter 5-**


	6. The Date That Didn’t Happen

“I don’t understand.”

 

Penguin should shut up. Penguin should shut up, move on, and just continue eating his stupid burger.

 

Why did they have to run into these two idiots _now_ of all times? Sure, they were in the mall, which was a public place, but it was a weekday and if memory served Law right (and it often did), these two were supposed to be in class. What he didn’t properly consider was the possibility of said two-hour class getting _cancelled_. And now that they’ve found Law in the mall, these two were now going to _skip the rest of the day_. To hangout. With Law and his new _“boyfriend”_. Oh, thundering _joyful_ _joy_. Normally, he’d object, but Shachi offered to lend Law his spare phone tomorrow so he had to compromise. He had to be more alert whenever that word was brought up. He gave in to compromise earlier, but that almost got him convicted for public indecency.

 

“I really don’t understand.” Penguin was still shaking his head, “I don’t understand how you managed to keep this from us if you’ve been together for...” Penguin looked at Luffy who stopped chewing to gladly replied with, “Two weeks!”

 

“Two weeks!” Penguin heavily slammed his hand on the table and that was all the excuse Law needed to shoot him a deadly glare from where he was sitting. His friend, however, was so flabbergasted by his newly-found information, which was Law’s relationship status, to even pay attention to a blatant death glare.

 

“Sure, you guys only became official yesterday but how did you do it?” Penguin leaned forward, “Tell us. You _need_ to tell us _everything_.”

 

“I don’t need to tell you shit.”

 

“Oh, yes, you _do_ , Dick Sexman.”

 

Luffy literally started choking on his fries, but Law just kept glaring at Penguin even as he nudged his tall drink towards his coughing demon who gladly guzzled down the orange juice for relief.

 

“If I hear another question about how Luffy and I got together.”

 

The sentence was left hanging. Law had said it like it was a definite, complete answer to a question rather than an open-ended threat. He didn’t do that often. Heck, his friends had only probably ever heard him use that tone once or twice. But that just meant something all the more. Whenever Law struck that tone was when his friends knew that he meant serious business about shutting up regarding something and that a shitstorm was going to happen if his conditions weren’t met.

 

Penguin’s mouth closed immediately.

 

Law had a side that was so _sinister_ , it was almost logical to think that his scheming ass was spawned by hell itself. A day after the first and last time Penguin tried to test and shatter Law’s last bit of patience, he woke up with his body covered in large patches of rashes. And it stayed for a good number of consecutive days. His life wasn’t in danger, but fucking hell, did it itch like hell’s fury itself was trying to rip his skin off. He couldn’t even remember what was it that ticked Law off so much that he had to resort to actually fiddling with his medical knowledge to stress a point. Something about his uncle? His dad (or lack thereof)? Penguin couldn’t even _remember_ . Law never even told him how he managed that, never openly admitted to doing it (his devious smile was a dead giveaway, though, but you can’t call that evidence), and Penguin never really found out, but that was the day he swore he was never going to test this man if he took on that tone _ever again_.

 

“At least tell us about the tattoos.” Shachi carefully pointed with a fork at Law, “Those weren’t there yesterday.”

 

“No, no, hold on.” Luffy waved his arms in the middle of everyone to get their attention, “Who the hell is Dick Sexman?”

 

Penguin laughed and Shachi chuckled mostly because there was a lettuce in his mouth, but had it been empty, he’d be laughing right along with Penguin. Assholes. He was friends with human demons all along.

 

“Dick Sexman is Law.” Penguin said with a french fry sticking out of his mouth as he jokingly pointed at Luffy, “ _You_ of all people should know that.”

 

“Oooohhh?” Luffy sounded very amused as he slowly turned his head towards _Dick Sexman_ who did not even _dare_ to glimpse. The expression on Luffy’s face right at this very moment was not something he was looking forward to seeing.

 

“Pen, shut up before I blind you with salad dressing.” Law grunted. He kind of meant it. Penguin just chuckled.

 

“But, I want to know…” Luffy leaned towards his boyfriend, “Why are you called—”

 

“We are _not_ talking about this.” Law dropped his fork in irritation.

 

Shachi mouthed “Tell you later” to Luffy and the boy chuckled excitedly, shoulders hunched like he was trying to shrink to keep the secret from escaping.

 

“Okay.” Luffy leaned back with a small smile and mumbled.

 

_I heard that_ , Law wanted to say, but thought it would be wiser to say nothing and pick up his fork so he could continue poking at his salad. He wasn’t hungry. He’s mostly used to skipping lunch. He didn’t even know why he ordered a salad. Luffy, on the other hand, had a fuckton of chicken nuggets, chicken strips, french fries, fish fillet, and other things Law chose to not pay attention to anymore because he paid for everything. Luffy even had two different kinds of salad and two king sized drinks—lemon-flavored soda and root beer—to wash everything down. And don’t even get started with the desserts. Law could have just _shared_ with him. Fucking hell. For a demon who didn’t need regular human food to survive, he sure ate like his life depended on it.

 

“You’re not eating.” Luffy said, brushing his elbow against Law’s.

 

“I’m not really hungry.” Law thought back to the meal plan that Sanji had drafted for him. He was going to have to start on it tonight. Or tomorrow. Yeah, maybe tomorrow.

 

But Luffy was making kind of a sad, regretful face. Law couldn’t see properly and it was only there for maybe a second or two, but he did look a bit down. Maybe he thought Law had no appetite because of what happened in the changing room? Not really. It was mostly just preference. He was fond of lunch break, just not of having lunch itself. Luffy didn’t have to wear that kind of expression.

 

“Maybe I should try a chicken nugget if that’s more...”

 

Law wasn’t a fan of chicken nuggets, really, but it was the first thing he saw on Luffy’s plate just as the words were coming out. Saying things to Luffy without thinking of it first was starting to become a habit. But then Luffy’s face brightened with a definite “You can have mine!” and Law didn’t have it in him to stop the boy from excitedly transferring one, two, three, four, five chicken nuggets on Law’s plate. Apparently, Luffy didn’t know what “ _a_ chicken nugget” meant. _A_ . Just _one_.

 

“So, Law about the tattoos…” Shachi began.

 

“We got them last night.” Luffy said with his mouth half-full with bits of fries sticking around the sides of his lips and morsels of food jumping out as he spoke, “Aren’t they cool?”

 

“All of those?” Shachi made circular motions with his fork at Law, but was looking at Luffy, “In one night? Didn’t it hurt?”

 

“They’re temporary.” Law said before Luffy could talk about anything else.

 

That wasn’t a lie. These tattoos were going to disappear eventually once he and Luffy were released from this contract. All they had to do was find a way to find a warlock. It sounded so easy when he put it like that. Well, Law still wasn’t sure how, but they _would_. Being unusually positive wouldn’t hurt while being in the middle of a shitstorm, right? Law wanted to think that things couldn’t get any more worse, but that might just backfire from him. Stocking on too much hope had its dire consequences. Dammit, what happened to being positive?

 

The strange knotting in his stomach tugged at his brain to stop thinking for a while. He could feel fingers squeezing his hand, which was odd because both of his hands were in front of him on the table and no one was holding it.

 

“They don’t look temporary…” Shachi did not look one bit convinced.

 

“They are.” Law stressed, not really as a response to Shachi’s statement, but mostly to remind himself about his situation. He wasn’t lying, he told himself again. He really wasn’t lying. Both he and Luffy wanted their lives back. His eyes slowly drifted to his demon who was now quietly eating what’s left of his chicken nuggets. He’d gone silent suddenly. What’s with him this time? Maybe he didn’t like that Law didn’t acknowledge that his tattoos were cool? Or maybe he had noticed that Law hadn’t taken a single bite out of the chicken nuggets he had been given?

 

The heavy rumble in his chest made it difficult for him to think. Maybe he was too tired.

 

“Mrs. Giolla’s gonna torch you.” Penguin tossed the last of his abominable burger into his cavern mouth before noisily sipping on his drink.

 

As if that was news. Mrs. Giolla never let him live an easy life ever.

 

“Well, she has to admit,” Law said lowly, careful about how he said it so he didn’t sound like he tried too hard, “These look pretty cool for something temporary.”

 

Both Shachi and Penguin chuckled with various sounds of agreement. Law lifted his fork, stared at the golden brown fried thing impaled on it before slowly dunking it into the sweet and sour dip. He glanced at Luffy who wasn’t looking at him at all but took a bite anyway.

 

It tasted weird.

 

* * *

 

There were many things Luffy loved about Law, but he now thought he’d make his list grow longer by adding another one—tying shoelaces.

 

They’ve gone back to shopping after lunch. Luffy wasn’t sure if he was going to be horrified or thrilled based on the mix of painfully boring and excitingly hot activities that occurred during their first attempt at shopping. Penguin and Shachi chose to come with them, which was fine, since they were Law’s friends. Law didn’t seem to be too happy about that, though. So grumpy, so cute.

 

By the time they got to the shoe section of the department store, Luffy was ready to throw himself into one corner and brood. Law specifically wanted to buy him rubber shoes and sandals. A pair each. Much to Luffy’s joy, shoe shopping wasn’t exactly the same as the boring shopping earlier. The items were much more colorful and easier to understand. When Law asked him which three he liked, he actually picked _five_. And Law had them all brought to him anyway, which was really nice. The servant—sales person, said Law—came back with ten boxes later on because Law had apparently asked him to get two sizes of each to try on. As he sat on the soft couch, Luffy decided he enjoyed this treatment. He liked being taken care of for a change.

 

And Law was really good at giving instructions, wasn’t he?

 

Luffy had to stop himself from licking his lips.

 

So now Law was kneeling in front of him, tying his shoelaces like he did this morning and Luffy kept on telling himself over and over that his human was so adorable and gorgeous and if Bellamy managed to damage this face, Luffy would track him down with seething rage and revenge.

 

Looking at Law from a closer and more interesting angle, Luffy had to hold back every ounce of _want_ that he had to cup Law’s cheeks and kiss him. His eyes were a nice shade of grey, not that it was the first time Luffy had noticed. His eyelashes weren’t necessarily long, but Luffy particularly liked how they looked like whenever Law blinked. And his hair. Luffy could smell his hair nicely from this distance. The mix of his scent and his shampoo was just calming, which said a lot, because Luffy didn’t usually give a shit about anyone’s hair.

 

“This is the last pair now.” Law said from where he was kneeling as he tied the shoelaces into a flimsy ribbon. This man had a way with his fingers and hands; how his movement looked light, fluid, and precise that entranced the curious demon into watching—entertained and amused—not wondering at all how they would feel on his body, against his skin. Just how many people on the planet could possibly make tying knots look calming and interesting?

 

“So?” Law looked up at him and Luffy immediately decided that this was way better than when Law was looking down. Such a pretty creature.

 

“Luffy.” The man frowned.

 

Glaring again? Still pretty.

 

“Ah. What?” Luffy blinked, shaking his head a bit to pay better attention. He had sternly told himself not to make any weird noises in case his human pulled on those shoelaces too hard. And none were made indeed. He internally gave himself a high five, “I… It feels okay…”

 

“Yeah, but does it _fit_?” Law stood up and motioned for him to do the same, “Come on, try walking again. See if it feels good on your feet.”

 

Luffy stood up. He wasn’t sure how many times they’d done this already in the short while that Law had asked for the shoes to be brought. For every pair that had been brought, Law had made Luffy wear the shoes, tied up the shoelaces for him, made him walk to see how it fit, and then untied it again so he could try the next pair. This man’s patience was something Luffy took note of so he could brag about it when the chance presented itself.

 

A good distance away from Law and Luffy, Penguin and Shachi were pretending to look at other footwear on display.

 

“How could we have missed this?” Penguin muttered to Shachi, “Look at them.”

 

Luffy was carefully walking around the bench as Law kept on talking until Luffy broke into a sprint that had Law yelling at him to come the fuck back and stop doing that. The tattooed man was so surprised, he had thrown one shoe that bounced off the back of the boy’s head. The sales person looked like he wanted to intervene, but could only watch Law frown as his little boyfriend walked back, grinning sheepishly, not at all injured or wincing.

 

“Well, he’s still grumpy.” Shachi chuckled, shrugging as he held a green shoe in his hands. Grumpy Law was normal Law.

 

“Think about it.” Penguin muttered lowly, somewhat paranoid that Law would hear, “How many people would Law tie shoelaces for _once_ let alone over and over again?”

 

“Maybe Luffy doesn’t know how to tie his own shoelaces?” Shachi shrugged again and put the shoe back on the wall rack.

 

“Oh, _come on_ .” Penguin groaned exasperatedly, taking the shoe that Shachi had just put back, “What is he? _Three_?”

 

Shachi looked back at their friend and his new boyfriend who seemed to have stumbled face first into Law’s chest. The man scratched his head heavily.

 

“Maybe he has problems with his motor skills?”

 

It was Penguin’s turn to look at the couple a few good feet away from them.

 

Luffy was holding Law’s hands and jumping up and down, higher and harder each time, laughing as he did. Law, on the other hand, although frowning and clearly not amused, was just letting the smaller guy do his shit.

 

“Or.” Penguin, put the shoe back on the rack, “Maybe he’s… kind of like a person who needs medical attention?”

 

_In the head_ , Penguin wanted to add. They had been with Law’s boyfriend for less than a day and he knew crazy when he saw it. So either Luffy was sick in the head or had some sort of drug addiction and was tripping like crazy. Or maybe Law realized he was a masochist and wanted to suffer by getting in a relationship with someone who was his total opposite.Or maybe this whole set-up made Law feel like he had a pet than a boyfriend.

 

“Well, he _does_ like sticking his nose into other people’s medical business.” Shachi nodded, reminded of how Law dragged him to the hospital because “his cough sounded like tuberculosis”, which it wasn’t. It was a case of acute bronchitis, which still sounded pretty bad, but at least it wasn’t tuberculosis. That didn’t stop Penguin from frantically calling Shachi’s parents, though, and telling them their son had tuberculosis. That had been a weird week.

 

The sound of a camera phone snapping a picture made Shachi turn towards the man beside him. Grinning under the shadow of his hat, Penguin nodded approvingly at the picture of Law kneeling in front of Luffy who was sitting on the soft bench as he watched his boyfriend tie his shoelaces. The overall image was a tad blurry, mostly thanks to Penguin having to zoom in so much to get Luffy’s face while still keeping Law in the frame. But since it wasn’t shit-tier either, it was going to serve its purpose with a few photo edits and cropping (along with some stickers and filters, maybe?).

 

“You took a picture of them?” Shachi was trying to tell Penguin that he had done something he was probably going to regret, not that he had any intention of stopping whatever plan Penguin had in mind, “Who’re you sending tha—Law’s going to kill you.” It was a threat and a warning, but Shachi was laughing.

 

“Either she already knows or he’s going to tell her anyway.” Penguin shrugged, “He doesn’t have a phone so she can’t call him. She has work or class today and won’t have any time to ask Law until tomorrow.”

 

“You’re evil.”

 

“We’re two of Law’s closest friends, d-uh.”

 

Along with the message _Breaking News: Trafalgar Law has a boyfriend_ , Penguin hit send. Shachi elbowed him jokingly as soon as the message was successfully delivered. The two pushed against each other in jest for a while with Shachi telling Penguin that he was not going to take any responsibility in case Law decided to dissect him alive.

  
Penguin’s phone started chimed for an incoming message.

 

“That her? “ Shachi huddled closely again, “That was fast.”  
  
“Let me s—yep, it’s Bonney.”

 

_Sound the alarms and send it to Khalifa LOL_

 

“You’re right.” Shachi chuckled as Penguin tried to compose a witty reply between chuckles, “Everyone in Law’s circle of friends are evil.”

 

* * *

  


“So.” Penguin stretched as they walked out of the men’s section of the department store and into the mall corridor,  “What are we doing next?”  

 

“Home.” Law mumbled, holding back from groaning as he carried a huge paper bag with two shoe boxes and some new underwear. The lack of sleep, overall fatigue, and probably even _the poison in his blood_ were all getting to him. He regretted having brought his car. What was he thinking when he decided he was going to drive? Driving was going to get him killed faster than Luffy’s life-draining tattoos. He’d rather sleep in the taxi on the way home or something.

 

“You’re kidding.” Penguin said with a wave as he looked around for a possible next destination or activity, “It’s too early.”

 

“Yeah, we’re skipping the rest of today’s classes to be with you guys.” Shachi stepped closer to Penguin as soon as the man’s phone started vibrating. Law wanted to point out how he didn’t really ask to hang out because he was so fucking _tired_.

 

“Anything but more shopping.” Luffy groaned, leaning forward so that only his forehead was touching Law’s back as the boy stretched his arms for balance. You’d think he’d be a bit more understanding about Law needing to buy a wallet after buying Luffy two pairs of shoe wear and two packs of underwear, but nope. The ingrate was complaining the whole time while Law was trying to count just how many cards his new wallet had to hold. He was meaning to buy thank you gifts for Nami, Zoro, and Sanji, but Luffy had been throwing tantrums and Law was starting to plot on sedating him.

 

“Luffy, you are going to slip and break your nose.” Law was twisted at the waist as he looked back and tried to figure out a way to detach the little demon that was leaning at a dangerous angle, “Stop doing that.”

 

Luffy laughed and moved closer, his arms encircling Law’s waist so he could hug him from behind, bury his face on Law’s back, and spew muffled words and chuckles. Was he making a constant effort to generally be an annoying little prick that’s trying to be cute? And while Penguin and Shachi went “Awww”, Law only had changing room incident flashbacks, which wasn’t really an appropriate moment to look back on right now.

 

“Hey, stop being so—!”

 

There was a sound of a phone camera going off. Law went rigid and instantly switched into about-to-murder mode. He wasn’t an idiot not to know where _that_ came from. His head slowly turned to his two blundering friends to find them so surprised, Penguin almost dropped his phone.

 

“Stuuuuuuuuupid fuck!” Shachi wanted to pull on his hair after punching Penguin hard in the shoulder, “Why didn’t you turn off the sound!?”

 

“Pen.” Law began eerily

 

Penguin’s reply was to just _sprint_ the hell away from there. A good decision, maybe, since Law’s next course of action was to put him in a headlock. It took Shachi about a second to figure that he should be doing the same thing. Delaying inevitable punishment and revenge. No matter. Law was fine with that. He really wanted to go home and if those two chose to leave him alone then that just made his life easier.

 

But then _Luffy_ happened.

 

“Oh! Are we playing tag!?” Luffy pushed himself away from his human and bolted towards the same direction as Shachi and Penguin while screaming, “Law, you’re it!”  


Well, would you look at that. This idiot thought this was a fucking _game_ . Oh, but, no. No, this was _not_ happening. There was no way in hell Law was going to run around chasing the little—Luffy ran so hard into a man twice his size, it sent the poor stranger recoiling and falling on his butt. Luffy just yelled “Sorry!” ...and kept running.

 

That little fucking—

 

“Luffy!” Law hollered,“You get your demon ass back here or I’ll—!”

 

Law shut his mouth immediately, biting his tongue slightly before he could let out another furious curse word. People were staring at him and backing away from his immediate proximity like he was some sort of wild animal. Well, he couldn’t blame them. He had practically _roared_ inside a mall.

 

Oh, the _things_ his demon idiot made him do!

 

Law wanted to wear the paper bag over his head as he briskly walked towards the direction Luffy took. That little incubus better not have stolen anything or picked a fight with anyone yet. Fucking hell. What was it about behaving and not being a goddamn pain in the neck that Luffy couldn’t do? Was he genetically coded to start a shitstorm wherever he went!? Sure, he was a demon, but wasn’t there any sort of considerable downtime before Luffy performed his next stupid act?

 

Law was bracing himself for a staggering walkathon in search for his little demon when he found him standing outside a video game arcade not so far away. His mouth was agape and his eyes were as glittery and shiny as the letters and lights inside. It probably appeared to him as a cavern of fun. He’d clearly forgotten that they were “supposed to be playing tag”.

 

“Luffy!” Law called, a little breathless as he tried not to make it look like he almost jogged to around to look for him. He was trying to conserve his energy. All this useless moving around wasn’t helping.

 

“Munchkin!” Luffy squeaked as he launched himself from standing position at Law to trap the man in a tackle-like hug, “Where have you been!?”

 

New nickname. Why did he have to do that?

 

“ _You’re_ asking me where I’ve been?” Law grunted, trying to get his arms out of Luffy’s trapping display of affection so he could bonk his small incubus on the head, “You fucking _left me_ , you stupid shit.”

 

“Aww, and did you miss me?” Luffy laughed, looking up, his chin against Law’s chest.

 

“Where’s Penguin and Shachi?” Law said instead as he looked around, looking as scary as he possibly could to repel any stupid shit either of them were possibly trying to pull. Like pouncing at him out of nowhere. Who knew what the hell those two were planning to do with that photo?

 

“Not sure.” Luffy replied, the rest of his sentence reduced into incomprehensible mumbles as he tried to talk and laugh into Law’s chest. Why was he so fond of doing that? The little demon took a deep inhale before looking up at Law, “But what is this place? It’s so loud and happy.”

 

“It’s called a video game arcade.” Law answered, still on the lookout for Penguin, Shachi, and the chance to strangle them until they were very, very sorry.  
  
“Game?” It was unclear how Law _heard_ the shine in Luffy’s eyes as his arms tightened around his human, “There are games? I want to play!”

 

Great. Law shouldn’t have said that. Talking to Luffy without thinking should be classified as a disease if not a crime.  


“Luffy…” A finger would be rubbing his forehead if only his arms were free.

 

“Please?”

 

Law shouldn’t have looked down to see his annoying little “boyfriend”. When did Luffy learn doing convincing puppy dog eyes and puffy cheeks? When did he learn turning his lips into a sobby little pout?

 

“But we...” Law began, but Luffy’s eyebrows knotted closer into a weird sad _shape_ like that fucking made sense. His eyes pleaded some more, his lips pursed and curled and pouted and did all sorts of please-let-me things that just— _Why?_

 

“ _Please_?”

 

Law just dropped his shoulders and let out a heavy breath of defeat.

 

“I’m letting you spend one game card on this and then we’re going home, okay?”

 

“Okay! I promise!” Luffy’s arms moved from being around Law’s torso to around his neck so Luffy could pull him down for a kiss, but Law moved away before any lip smacking happened. With a firm grip on his demon’s hand, Law headed to the counter to buy one game swipe card.

 

Life was so fucking unfair. Demons had ways to get what they wanted, didn’t they? It was like an inherent trait to them and humans were weak little creatures who succumbed to things ranging from cute kittens to thunderstorms. Why did Law have to be human? Now he had to spend two hundred Beri on this prepaid game card just so his incubus could experience playing a stupid game of his choice. Law pulled out his newly-bought wallet.

 

“Ow!”

 

A child running back from the counter stepped on Law’s foot. Fucking hell. He was never fond of children. Like he didn’t hate them but he didn’t love them either. That’s one reason why he tried to stay away from places like this.

 

Law put his money on the counter and just gestured a “one” with his fingers before the girl behind the counter smiled with a cheery “I received two hundred fifty Beri for one basic game card!”

 

Basic? Like there was a fucking intermediate game card? This folly had different levels of hell? Luffy just _had_ to find this noisy hellhole. This was all Penguin and Shachi’s fault.

 

“Who the hell are you!?” A male yell echoed above the noise of most of the machines enough for everyone to turn their heads and look. Well, almost everyone. Law really couldn’t give a shit if people wanted to beat the crap out of each other as he collected his newly purchased game card. Law turned to take Luffy’s hand again and—where was he?

 

Law lifted his head. His demon was nowhere in sight.

 

“Damn it, Luffy!”

 

Just before Law could walk any further away from the counter, Luffy’s voice was making his way to his ears right on cue, “Oh! Oh, was I disturbing you? Sorry, I didn’t mean that!”

 

The man looked towards the direction of the voice. The little demon was already raising the curtain of a photo booth to reveal a startled couple inside. Oh, for crying out loud! Law took his eyes off Luffy for less than five minutes and he’d managed to walk away and bother other people. Fucking _amazing_.

 

“Luffy!” Law rarely took large steps so quickly, but he felt the dire need to be right beside the little shit before he did something stupid like start a threesome in broad daylight, “What are you doing?!”

 

“Hey, you’re back!” Luffy dropped the curtain as he smiled at Law, “Can we play a game now!? Can we!?”

 

Law was about to tell Luffy not to bother other people when the couple started to emerge from the photobooth. The high school uniforms they were wearing meant that they were most certainly younger than Law. And that they were also skipping class. Law kept running into people who have been doing that today, it seemed.

 

“Hey.” the young man was pushing the curtain to the side as his girlfriend constantly tugged at his sleeve, nervously saying that they should just leave. Luffy’s head turned slightly but sharply, just enough so he could have a clear view of the young agitated human. Law immediately grabbed Luffy by the hand just in case he did something stupid that needed him to be yanked back.

 

“Keep your friend in line.” He was telling Law while pointing at Luffy. His furiously blushing girlfriend was trying to push him forward as she nervously whispered, “Please, let’s go. Let’s just _go_.”

 

Red lights were flashing all over Law’s head. Luffy was about to either punch this little punk or snap his neck. Law wasn’t about to stand around and find out which course of action Luffy was going to take.

 

“I already said sorry, you _feeble little fucking_ —!”

 

“Sorry about that.” Law pulled Luffy to his other side and started pushing him into the photo booth, “Really wanted to try it out.”

 

Luffy wasn’t piping down from complaining. He was also trying to reach for the young man and his girlfriend even as he was getting entangled with the booth’s curtain. The young high schooler was obviously contemplating on going back to pick a fight—don’t, kid, for your own damn safety—but his girlfriend was much too embarrassed already. She was pulling so hard, his uniform was coming off. Law, on the other hand, was still trying to shove Luffy in the booth while keeping an eye on the teenage couple that was now walking away. Seriously, that kid didn’t know what kind of fight he was picking.

 

“Why!?” Luffy complained, grabbing Law by one arm and pulling him so that he stumbled chest first onto the bench inside the booth.  The large paper bag Law was holding swung back and forth awkwardly until it eventually hit the man in the stomach as he tried to get up.

 

“I already apologized, Law! You didn’t have to anymore!”

 

“Stop it!” Law said sternly, pushing Luffy further inside so he could properly sit and have a proper discussion without looking like an idiot with his legs sticking out of the booth, “I told you to stay put didn’t I?!”

 

“I was just wondering about this box, okay?!” Luffy moved his arms around him as if showing Law where they were, “They were making weird giggly noises. How was I to know he was groping her breasts!?”

 

Groping. Her breasts.

 

“Oh.” Law stopped, curious. Necking teenagers weren’t really much of a surprise and were not worth Law’s attention, but he was really under the impression that Luffy had more—how to call it— _sense_ when it came to sexual attraction and activities. Like maybe he _knew_ people were doing sensual shit even if he didn’t see it?

 

“But you’re an incubus… I was thinking you could… like… detect…”

 

Luffy groaned and rolled his eyes away. It was one of the most frustrated eye rolls Law had seen anyone do in his life.

 

“So racist!” Luffy sat up straight, crossed his arms, and looked away with a pout as Law made a mental note to check what the hell Luffy meant by the word “racist” exactly, “I’m only going to care if someone _else_ was fondling _you_.”

 

Law’s face deadpanned. Like there was some other pervert aside from Luffy who would ever try to aggressively fondle him. Law smirked, but kept his thoughts to himself. Hopefully. Luffy grumbled for a while.

 

“So what is this box?” The boy looked around.

 

“It’s a photobooth.” Law looked at the paper bag with crumpled corners and tried to smooth it out. He liked keeping nice-looking shopping bags because they could be used to carry other things later on without looking like a plebeian with a garbage bag.

 

“What game does it play?” Luffy leaned forward to look at the screen with flashing pictures of cute teenage girls and colorful caricatures and ribbons and laces and sparkles and many other things that screamed _cute-ify_.

 

“It doesn’t.” Law put the paper bag down on the floor and between his legs, “It just takes pictures of people and turns it into stickers.” Law tapped his finger on the panel with sample images, “Like this.”

 

“Oh.” Luffy leaned closer towards Law, making curious, contemplative noises before chuckling. He was kind of like a child, wasn’t he? Attracted to weird colors and happy things that he didn’t know anything about. It was like he was learning about many things in the world for the first time. Law watched him trace a finger across the panel, humming and mumbling as he did. Surely, he wouldn’t—

 

“I’ve decided!” Luffy slammed a palm against the surface, “I want to try this!”

 

“It’s not a game, Luffy.”

 

“I want to try!” He pointed insistently at the machine, “Make it work!”

 

“Fine,” Law got up and swiped the card on the reader, “But don’t come crying to me if it’s not fun!”

 

A squeaky high school girl’s voice greeted from the machine made Luffy stand up and start laughing and clapping. Law sighed heavily at how ridiculous it was that a man well over his twenties such as himself was standing inside a pink-colored booth with lights and girly shit. Having a sexually parasitic demon inside said booth didn’t improve the situation either. The panel lit up brighter and prompted Law to choose a theme for them to use. Dammit, why were there so many? How was he to figure which one was the tamest amidst the outrageously cute and glamorous selection?

 

Luffy huddled next to him, their shoulders and temples pressed together, one arm around Law’s waist as he giddily made comments about how ridiculously colorful everything was before accidentally selecting a theme by touching the screen in an attempt to show it to Law. Great. Now they had god damn _smiling hearts with wings_ all over the fucking frame. Law cursed loudly because he wanted something with _skulls_ at least, even if they were cute-sified, god damn it.

 

“Ohh! Look, it’s us!” Luffy pointed excitedly at the screen while shaking Law by the arm, causing him to lose his balance, which prompted him to grab onto the nearest something, which _then_ made him accidentally hit the “take picture” button. Lovely. Just abso-fucking-lutely lovely. The three-second countdown felt like an atomic disaster waiting to happen, but that just made Luffy laugh all the more and cling to him. And when the high-pitched instruction to “Smiiiile!” reached Law’s ears, all he wanted to do was jump out the booth and run home.

 

The sound of the machine taking photos one after the other sounded like a deadly gatling gun to Law as he tried to balance himself thanks to Luffy trying to use him as a stripper pole. Luffy pushed himself up against Law and pressed a kiss on his cheek. That sent the man recoiling backwards and away from Luffy, but the little demon’s grip was like a fucking eagle’s on its prey. In just one tug, Law was stumbling towards Luffy who caught him with his small, but strong arms, his laughter crisp into Law’s ears. They staggered further back like two uncoordinated dancers. Law had to slam his hand on the wall to keep them from crashing and breaking their noses.

 

And then the whole shit was over.

 

Not one good take.

 

God damn it.

 

The demon’s delight was so violently radiant that it was enough to make Law look down just so he could smirk at the face Luffy was making. The little pain in the ass was toning down from his distinctive laughter as he leaned on the booth’s wall, trapped on one side by Law’s arm. Luffy lifted his head to look up at his human before his arms snaked up to cling around Law’s neck.

 

“See?” Luffy pushed himself up his toes so he could rub his nose against Law’s, “That was very fun although it wasn’t a game.”

 

“Anything is fun to you.” Law sighed heavily, veering his head away.

 

“Only if it has you in it.”

 

Oh, _please_.

 

How? How in the fucking hell could Luffy say something as ridiculously cheesy and corny as that without a trace of humiliation on his face? _How_!? Law hated it so much. He hated how it made his face burn like his head was going to explode in shame and embarrassment, how it made him want to slap himself for wondering if Luffy ever meant anything he said. And he didn’t, did he? It was a demon thing to lure a human and steer him right into the palm of the devil’s scheming hand. It was so fucking aggravating being such a feeble, gullible creature.

 

Law pushed himself away from the wall, shoving aside the thought of how Luffy looked up at him with eyes so honest, sincere, and _in love_. He might be fiercely loyal to Law, as Sanji had told him, so that it might force him to be honest, but love? No. Demons don’t fall in love. Perhaps Zoro did, but who’s to say that he wasn’t a minority? Incubi didn’t fall in love on a daily basis, not in two weeks, in a month, a year, whenever. Luffy, particularly, wasn’t in love. At least not with him. “Fond” sounded more appropriate. Or “interested”. But, love, no. Law was “his human”. “Boyfriend” was just a term. And Law should not even be thinking about this at all.

 

The machine was telling them they could now decorate the pictures by selecting emojis and scribbling designs using the touch pen nearby. Luffy practically had the time of his life with that, drawing hearts and stars; putting kitten emojis where he can; writing stupid shit like _Forever_ , _Love-Love_ , _Luffy’s Lovely Human,_ and _LawLu_.

 

“What in the sweet fuck is _LawLu_ ?!” Law couldn’t stop himself from elbowing Luffy.   


“It’s a combination of our names!” The little abomination beamed like he was being _amazingly clever_ , “Isn’t it cute?”

 

“Like _hell_ it is.” Law motioned to reach for the pen in Luffy’s hand, “Erase it. It’s embarrassing!”

 

“No!” Luffy moved the pen away from Law, holding it up in the air like he was tall enough for it to be out of Law’s reach, “I like it! I’ve decided that’s what we’re called now!”

 

“We aren’t getting called _anything_ , you—!”

 

“Yes! We! Are!”

 

And Luffy’s fist slammed so hard onto the giant “PRINT” button that Law thought he was going to break the touch screen panel. The sound of the printing machine was equal to the churning gears of hell.

 

“Motherfucking—!” Law turned immediately to get his hands on the printed out photos first, but he’d forgotten Luffy was much, _much_ faster. In an instant, Law found himself pushed into the corner of the booth as he watched the curtain sway back and forth like it was taunting him about Luffy having already dashed out. The man grunted before he sat up and straightened his clothes before picking up the hopelessly beaten paper bag before walking out.

 

“Did the stickers burst into flames yet?” Law groaned sarcastically as he stepped out of the booth.

 

Law was expecting a loud reaction like a laugh or a curse word, but no such thing came. Instead, Luffy just hummed lowly in response. The printed out sticker was in his small hands and he was holding it really, really carefully, staring at it intently like he was watching a firefly in a jar.

 

“Is this…” Luffy spoke so lowly that the arcade sounds almost drowned out his voice, “...Is this temporary?”

 

“Hmm? It’ll fade if not taken care of properly.” Law stepped next to him. The pictures were all ridiculous and only four of the six images were decorated. Not that it improved any of it. All of them were abominable and Law wanted to forget he ever participated in the creation of these atrocities.

 

“But... “ Luffy hadn’t moved from how he was gazing at the colorful photo set in his hands, “It’s not meant to be temporary, is it?”

 

Something about how Luffy said “temporary” tugged at Law’s chest. Like it meant something.

 

“No.” Law ran a thumb against the matte surface and that made Luffy jump with a gasp, “It’s permanent ink, see?”

 

Luffy brought up the photo closer to his face so that his eyes almost crossed as he inspected it. He sighed in relief upon realizing that Law’s finger hadn’t smeared anything.

 

“Can I stick this on my skin?” Luffy looked up excitedly, holding the printed photo to his chest, “So I can always have it with me?”

 

“No. That’s not how it works.” Law scratched his head, “It’s supposed to go on objects.”

 

“Objects…” Luffy frowned in thought, glancing at the paper bag Law was holding before beaming again, “Can I stick this on the shoes you bought me?!”

 

“No. That’s ridiculous.” Law waved his hand, “Or maybe yeah, if you’re willing to make it dirty.”

 

“I’m not willing to make it dirty!” Luffy sounded offended, taking a step back and moving the photo away from Law like the man was going to snatch it and tear it into pieces… which he would if given the chance.

 

“So complicated!” Luffy looked up thoughtfully and stared at the slideshow on the panel on the outside wall of the booth just in time to see a girl pointing at her photo sticker on the inside of her wallet. Law’s heart thundered at what that horrible fucking advertisement suggested as Luffy drew a slow but all-knowing deep breath.

 

“What about—!”

 

“No.” Law sternly told him, taking one step back, and holding one finger up, “You’re not going to stick _that_ thing on my—”

 

The feeling of a slight breeze to his left side made Law stop mid-sentence. He was inside a mall and that slight wind felt like it came from _movement_ , not the air conditioner. Luffy’s slowly growing grin was ringing bells in Law’s head. What? What was he planning? What happened? No, wait,  what did he _already_ do? Law’s hand immediately felt his pockets as Luffy grinned wider and held up his hand with Law’s wallet between his fingers. When did he…? How did he…? God dammit! Law was probably never going to move on from how Luffy’s accursed speed had been used _against_ him ever since they met.

 

“You cheating little—!” Law motioned to grab Luffy who just ran away from him, laughing almost hysterically. Law could only grumble and scratch his head heavily, giving up on chasing after the boy. It was just going to be _futile_. Buying a new wallet would be easier. Law just had to accept that the world was a one-sided place that made it difficult for humans to keep on living—typhoons, earthquakes, demons, and cutesy-sparkly photo stickers.

 

“It looks aaaaaaawesooooome!” Luffy’s loud announcement made it easy for Law to find where he was. He was almost outside of the arcade, holding up the open wallet, and looking up at it, not minding the people that were giggling and pointing at him if not worriedly trotting away from him.

 

“Whatever. Give it back.” Law grumbled as he approached. Luffy immediately took two cautious steps away from him—of course, _Law_ was the scary one against Luffy’s monstrous strength and speed—trying to keep the wallet out of the man’s reach.

 

“Promise not to remove it!”

 

This kid needed to learn how to negotiate, god damn it.

 

“I won’t if you agree to us going home right now.” Law extended his hand, gesturing for Luffy to just hand it over. The demon hesitated, eyeing his human for a while so that Law had to add, “It’s a _compromise_.”

 

And that seemed to do it.

 

“Fine.” Luffy slapped the wallet on Law’s open palm, “Compromise.”

  
It really was a magic word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer to write than I thought it would and originally had over ten thousand words. What was I thinking!? But because I did that, the next chapter will be up in the next couple of hours! Semi-sexy time?


	7. Demon's Gaze

“Home sweet hoooooome!” Luffy barged into Law’s house as soon as the lights went on. Law, on the other hand, was so god damn tired, he just wanted to collapse on the couch. It was only almost six in the evening, but he felt like he needed to have dinner already. It was like his stomach was reduced to nothing more but a hole that was growing up towards his lungs. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he did feel really empty. He was reminded of Sanji’s meal plan and that maybe it was a good idea to try putting together a decent meal tonight until he realized he’d forgotten it in the car.

 

“Fuck.” Law wanted to kick something but even  _ that _ sounded like so much activity for him to invest any strength on.

 

“What’s wrong?” Luffy said as he sat on the back of the couch.

 

“Nothing.” Law threw the paper bags and his coat on the sofa chair, “Just forgot something in the car.”

 

“You want me to get it for you, muffin?”

 

“No, it’s fine.” Law waved, heading towards the kitchen and pointing at the paper bag, “Take out the underwear packs we bought so we don’t forget to bring it upstairs later.”

 

“Okaaay…!” Luffy leaned back and reached for the paper bag.

 

Law wasn’t sure what he wanted for dinner. The first thing he saw upon opening the refrigerator was the egg tray. So omelet then. Omelets were easy to make especially when you’re tired and don’t give a fuck anymore if it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

 

“Are you making dinner?” Luffy asked from the living room amidst the sound of plastic wrapping being ripped open.

 

“Dinner is omelet.” Law said, sticking his head out so he could see what Luffy was doing, “Did you open it already?”

 

“I wasn’t supposed to?” Luffy blinked, holding up a pair of dark grey boxers.

 

“You were sup—Never mind. Take it upstairs and put it on the bed.” Law waved him off as he took out four eggs from the refrigerator. Hearing Luffy’s heavy running footsteps going up made him loudly add, “And don’t touch anything! Come downstairs right after you put it on the bed!”

 

“Okaaaay!” Luffy yelled back from the second floor as he twisted the knob of Law’s bedroom door. Luffy stepped inside and left the door open so he didn’t have to open the lights. He placed the newly bought boxers on the foot of the bed before throwing himself on the mattress, chuckling to himself as he grabbed one of Law’s pillows.

 

He’s here. He’s really here. He’s in Law’s room and Law  _ knew _ he was here. In fact, Law  _ sent _ him here. This was so, so different from just stalking from afar. Something about that made his chest stir with warmth and made the corners of his lips pull up into a smile that he probably couldn’t stop even if he tried. This was such an odd feeling. He really didn’t hate happiness, but it was just so bizarre given the situation. 

 

To start with, he was hungry in a demon kind of way. His mana pool was dropping so much that it was probably taking its toll on Law’s body by now as well. Luffy felt like his internal organs were turning into nothing but air. He should be pissed to hell right now, cursing this damned bond and wanting nothing else but to get out of it and feed again or try to force Law into just feeding him ‘til he’s good to go, but… he felt nothing like that. He was just… happy. Hungry, but really happy.

 

Law was the one who snared him so it was his responsibility to feed him as well, but Luffy wanted him to do that on his own accord. Like it would feel much, much better if Law offered or just thought about it on his own.

 

Upping the ante with seduction was something Luffy was highly considering. He was an incubus and based on recent events, Law didn’t appear to be all that strong against his advances. The incident in the changing room proved that much. There was no question that Law would take him if given the chance. He was just too stubborn. And prideful. What could have happened if Luffy hadn’t been so impatient as to bare his fangs too soon in the fitting room earlier today?

 

All it took was the idea of Law being all over him for Luffy’s face to heat up. What the fuck? Was he blushing? Again? He’s been doing that a lot lately. Luffy sighed, knowing full well that he was wearing another dumb smile as he rolled to lie on his side, clutching the pillow to his chest, pushing it up just high enough so it could touch his nose. 

 

His human was so fucking adorable, he could make a demon  _ feel things _ .

 

The light from outside spilling from the slightly open door caught the demon’s attention, straying his thoughts away from his human and their bond towards something less stressful and confusing. He pushed himself up slightly to take a better look. It seemed that from where Luffy was, he could see… another door? 

  
Luffy got up quickly, leaning a bit forward and squinting just to be sure he was seeing right. Yep, it was a door. It’s been there this whole time probably because last he checked, human houses didn’t rearrange themselves at will or without prior notice. But he had never really paid attention to this second door until now, hadn’t he? And he never really saw Law enter it, but he’s been in this house for less than twenty-four hours so who knew, right? It probably wasn’t a bedroom because Law made no mention of it during the first night Luffy was here. Surely, if it was a place he could sleep in, then Law wouldn’t have had any qualms kicking his butt in and locking him in there. 

 

The curiosity was tingling from Luffy’s feet all the way to the tips of his fingers. The curious demon tossed the pillow on the bed and hurriedly tiptoed outside, carefully locking Law’s bedroom door behind him. He could hear cooking sounds from the kitchen, meaning Law was still there. Okay. There was time, he thought as he looked at the door and experimentally touched the shiny knob.

 

So what’s inside this room? Should he or should he not look? Would it be invading Law’s privacy if he snooped around? Eh? Why would that matter? He’d been stalking Law for two weeks. Wasn’t it too late to worry about privacy now? And as far as their set-up goes, this was his home as well. He had a right to know about this room, too, right? No, actually, he didn’t, but… Luffy chewed on his bottom lip, fiddling his fingers that were itching to turn the knob and ahh,  _ fuck it _ . 

 

With a gulp, Luffy twisted the doorknob carefully and was surprised to find it unlocked. Now, if there was something in here that Law didn’t want him to see, he’d have locked it. This was totally Law’s fault for overlooking that detail.

 

Luffy tried to be as quiet as he possibly could as he pushed open the door of his newly discovered room. The curious little demon looked back at the stairs, making sure he still felt Law in the kitchen, before he slowly peeked inside. A part of him wanted to find a centaur or a robot or a three-headed dog in it and he really wasn’t sure if he was going to be happy or let down that there were only cabinets and plastic boxes inside.

 

“Hello?” Luffy called out anyway. No response. Dammit, not even a cat.

 

The room was very organized, which was quite normal since it  _ was _ part of Law’s house. And judging by how it didn’t have thick layers of dust over everything, it was either Law used all of these often or just cleaned a lot. Both were possible. 

 

Luffy looked around. He didn’t switch the light on, not that he needed it anyway. He could see Law had a lot of books, which wasn’t really surprising. He also had smaller boxes which Luffy hoped had toys in them, but he didn’t really bother to check because he wasn’t sure if he could put them all back. Or what if Law had some freaky toy that shot out a severed clown head or something? Those things were creepy. Luffy was definitely going to be so surprised even if he were expecting it and he would undoubtedly attempt to  _ kill it _ regardless if it were alive.

 

A small book with the word “PHOTO” on the spine caught his attention. Photos were always fun and easy to understand because they didn’t require reading. Luffy knew he should probably not touch anything, but he was reaching out for it and turning the heavy cover before he knew it. It was heavier than it looked. The pages were thick and, staying true to its label, only had photos in it—real photos under what seemed to be like transparent film. The images mostly had people—children and adults. Oh, look, one of them looked like Cora-san. He even had the word CORAZON on his shirt and…

 

“Oh.” Luffy blinked before turning the pages forward. Some people were showing up so often in so many pictures. There was a little girl that looked like Baby Five. There was the man who looked like Cora-san again. There was a dark-skinned, robust man who often stood either beside Cora-san-guy or a tall blonde guy who was always in weird pointy sunglasses. That guy was always wearing a suit, wasn’t he? And even if he didn’t, he was always the best dressed among everyone in the photo. Kind of reminded Luffy of how Sabo loved to dress up except this guy had a weird grin that reminded Luffy of the severed clown head he was thinking of earlier. The only thing that wasn’t making pointy shades guy a hundred percent creepy was his giant pink-feathered coat. Oh, Cora-san-guy had a similar coat of a darker shade. Those frivolous things really looked silly. 

 

Luffy laughed.

 

And then he finally recognized Law—young, still frowning, and seemed to have an affinity for polar bears, spotted pants, and white fluffy spotted hats. Luffy held his breath for a while and started turning the pages backwards towards the beginning of the album, trying his darnest to spot Law in every picture whenever he could. There he was during graduation, during a sports activity, swimming, a school play, in a crowd of students, another school play, a dance activity, holding a book, on a swing, oh my god, look at that little Law holding a tiny Baby Five! Luffy kept on turning and skimming pages, feeling like he was watching his human go back in time.

 

This photo album… It had part of Law’s memories. It was Law from before the time Luffy ever laid eyes on him.

 

“Luffy!”

 

His human calling from downstairs made Luffy squeak as the photo album jumped from his startled hands.

 

“I…! Um…! Be right there!” Luffy hurriedly and clumsily slid the photo album back to where it came from before running outside and closing the door with a click. Law was making his way up by the time Luffy was three steps down the stairs.

 

“Didn’t I tell you to come down as soon as you’re done?” Law frowned, “What were you doing?”

 

“I… I…!” He wasn’t sure if he was going to tell Law that he looked around the other room and that he was a cute child even though he frowned a lot, but what came out was, “I was sniffing your pillow...”

 

“For fuck’s sake,  _ why _ do you keep on—Okay, I don’t want to know.” Law waved him off as he turned to head downstairs with his demon following a few steps behind, thinking about what he just did. He didn’t lie, Luffy told himself, but he didn’t tell the entire truth either. But at least he wasn’t lying. And he didn’t do anything horribly wrong. He just went into a room without permission. And looked at a photo album without permission. Like sure, it wasn’t an ideally proper thing to do, but… It’s not like Law had to punish him severely, right?

 

Right.

 

* * *

 

_ Wrong. _

 

Fucking  _ wrong _ .

 

Law probably knew that Luffy stepped into that room and looked through that album.  And Law wanted to punish Luffy severely. Law wanted Luffy to suffer. Luffy should just come out clean and apologize  _ right now _ because maybe looking into a human’s photo album without permission was something like a grave offense. 

 

“I don’t  _ want _ to stay at Sanji’s!” Luffy stomped as he followed Law into the room, slamming the door behind him without waiting for Law to flick the lights on, “I want to go with you! I don’t want to be away from you!”

 

“For the love of god, Luffy, you’re not going to die without me.” Law walked over to his bedside table and switched on the lamp.

 

Oh, yes, he  _ would _ . He’d suffer so much, he’d probably just  _ die _ of fucking  _ anxiety _ that Law wouldn’t even comprehend in the slightest. The idea of starving while being away from his human without even his lovely scent in the vicinity was downright  _ miserable _ . It was the perfect formula to get Luffy to go  _ batshit crazy _ . He might tear down one of The Spirale’s walls and Zoro was going to be pissed and then a fight was going to erupt between the two of them and then people are going to get hurt and some of them are going to  _ die _ and Luffy’s going to lose because his mana pool is so fucking low and he’s not even going to die in Law’s arms and then—

 

“This can only end in tragedy!” Luffy wailed, almost pulling on his hair as Law started to fix his drawers so that Luffy’s pile of underwear was neatly on one side.

 

“What are you  _ talking about _ ?” Law looked back from where he was standing, “Right side of the drawer is yours, by the way.”

 

Luffy did not give a fuck about any side of  _ anything _ . Tomorrow, he was going to be left alone with people at The Spirale and who knew when Law was ever going to pick him up! If he was  _ ever _ going to pick him up! 

 

“Don’t argue with me anymore.” Law pulled his shirt over his head as he walked towards the laundry basket, “I’m tired as fuck.”

 

“But Laaaaaaaaaw!” Luffy was resiliently trying to convince his human. He didn’t really have a plan, but maybe if he said his name loud and long enough then maaaaaybe Law would understand he  _ really, really _ wanted to go with him during the day, “Laaaaaaaaaaaaw!”

 

“Luffy, stop screaming.” The man started stretching to release some stress from his muscles and joints, “I can’t take you with me to the university.”

 

“But do you  _ have _ to leave me at The Spirale?” Luffy ran to Law and shook his arm, effectively ending his stretching session, “Can’t I just stay here? My home is here! With you!”

 

“Like  _ hell _ I’m leaving you here alone with no supervision.” Law moved his arm out of Luffy’s hold as he went back to his drawer and pulled out a pair of sweatpants. Luffy released a long, loud, aggravated groan with shoulders dropping, head thrown back, and mouth wide open as Law, stepped into the bathroom to change, “Luffy, I’m leaving you at Sanji’s and that’s final.”

 

“Noooooooooooooooooooooo!” The little demon wailed louder. Law closed the door just in time before Luffy could jump into the bathroom. He locked it with a click.

 

Luffy at the university was an absolute no-no. Law had too much to worry about—classes, Mrs. Giolla, recataloging the library with Robin, the infirmary, and strangling his small group of friends. Adding an incubus unleashed in the halls was not welcome. Besides, he had given his plan good thought as they drove home from that rather exhausting trip from the mall and while he was cooking dinner. His idea was to drop Luffy off at Sanji’s tomorrow, pay for his meals in advance, and then pay Nami to make sure Luffy wasn’t going to do anything stupid until he came back in the afternoon to get him. It was a good plan. Hopefully, Sanji and the others wouldn’t see it in a negative light and Zoro wouldn’t take it as an intrusion of his territory.

 

After changing out of his clothes, Law came out of the bathroom, expecting to be bombarded with wails and cries if not a flying body and a bear hug. So when Law stepped into a fairly quiet room, he was half-worried and half-cautious. Calm before the storm?   
  
“Luffy?” Law called, looking around and spotting his incubus face down diagonally on the bed. Sulking. Ah, fuck. Law walked over to the laundry basket, threw his pants in, and headed towards his bed.

 

“I don’t understand why you’re reacting like this.” Law tapped Luffy’s leg twice for him to move, but the boy just grumbled into the mattress and refused to budge, “Luffy,  _ move _ .”

 

“Noooooooooo.” Luffy groaned, “I’m not going anywhere.” 

 

“Luffy, could you tell me  _ why _ you don’t want me to leave you at The Spirale?” Law pushed Luffy to make space for himself on his own god damn bed, “You know, aside from you don’t want to and can’t bear to be without me?”

 

Luffy lifted his head and turned it to one side so he was facing Law, “It’s the only explanation.”

 

The man only raised an eyebrow as he sat on the bed and leaned on the headboard.

 

“I thought you were smart.” Luffy sighed heavily, “Law is so dumb! Law is so dumb!”

 

“And you’re so childish.” Law nudged Luffy with his knee and his little demon hand just slapped his leg just so the human knew he was  _ pissed _ .   
  


“And you’re  _ leaving me _ !” Luffy all but yelled, eyebrows scrunched, and cheeks puffed like a cute little blowfish. Wait, what was that last adjective?

 

“I won’t let you leave me!” Luffy repeated loudly, hitting the mattress with the side of his fists, effectively eliminating the last thought off Law’s head. The boy threw his head facedown into the sheets again, wailing into the bed as he kicked his legs.

 

“Luffy,” Law thought he wanted to put a hand on Luffy’s head to ruffle his hair but thought better of it, “It’s not like I’ll be gone forever.”

 

The little demon’s noise came to a grinding halt before he slowly lifted his head so he could look up at Law, eyes starting to tear up. What the hell? He wasn’t about to cry, was he? This was an act, right?

 

“I’m going to come back for you in the afternoon.”, Law sighed heavily, rubbing the space between his eyebrows as Luffy pushed himself up on his elbows so he could crawl awkwardly towards Law, “So you’re not leaving me to live there forever?”

 

Argh, so  _ that _ was the issue. Law knew Luffy wasn’t so bright and was ignorant in most cases, but this time, his stupidity was just dipping randomly down a level Law couldn’t comprehend. He  _ couldn’t _ leave Luffy anywhere even if he wanted to. They were  _ bonded _ . He, of all people, should know that first and foremost! But Law was too tired to even be pissed at his incubus.

 

“Luffy, The Spirale is a  _ cafe _ , not an  _ orphanage _ .”

 

“But if it were, would you leave me there?” Luffy now crawled on top of Law so he was straddling him and they were face-to-face, “Would you?”

 

“No.” Law said flatly for the sake of ending the argument although he wondered what it would have been like if a demon was raised to live with human children, “I just can’t take you to the university because of many human reasons that I can’t explain to you right now.”

 

“But you promise to come back for me?” Luffy leaned forward. Law thought he was too close.

 

“Yes.”

 

Luffy bit his lip for a while, studying Law’s face as he contemplated. It made the man feel a bit conscious, prompting him to look away. Luffy only sighed and let his head drop on Law’s shoulder, “Okay, then. As long as you’re coming back.”

 

Stupid Luffy. They were bonded. How could he possibly not come back? If Luffy didn’t feed on him, his name was going to…

 

“Are you going to take too long?” Luffy pushed himself up so he was looking at Law.

 

“I’ll be gone until the afternoon.” Law tried moving his head backwards and away from Luffy, but that wasn’t possible unless he could sink into the headboard, “I’ll come get you as soon as I can.” 

 

“Promise?” Luffy moved his face closer, close enough for his breath to fan against Law’s skin and make the man’s brain fog up.

 

“I promise.”

 

“Okay.” 

 

With one breath, Luffy closed the gap on their lips. It was a simple and prolonged press on the lips, nothing heated or special. Just probably a ‘thank you’. But something other than Law’s heart started pounding in the man’s chest, waking some sort of spark inside him that he couldn’t give a name to. It was like his consciousness was being brought to life just by having Luffy this close to him. Some form of relief washed over his existence, like he was being bathed by comforting light that made everything right with the world. His aching muscles started to soothe, his brain was began to calm down, and the empty space that food wasn’t able to fill was being poured into. By the time Law had closed his eyes to revel in this new relaxing feeling, Luffy was already moving away. 

 

And it was over.

 

Huh?

 

“I’ll wait for you.” Luffy smiled, but Law wasn’t in the mind to immediately gather that Luffy was talking about being dropped off at Sanji’s. He was too busy looking at Luffy’s parted lips and sorting out his thoughts. What had happened? Why did it stop? Where did all those amazing feelings go?

 

“Law?” 

 

Was it because Luffy stopped kissing him?

 

“Yeah. I just...” 

 

Well, then something needed to be done about that.

 

Luffy wasn’t used to having a heart of his own but that wasn’t to say he didn’t have a heart attack when Law’s hand slowly moved to the back of his head and pushed him forward so that their lips met again. His eyes grew wide, his mind frantically trying to follow the sensations that were coming from the kiss. With Law. Was this a dream? Was this happening? Why so suddenly? But when Law’s other hand came up and held him by the jaw to keep him in place, all the questions died out.  Luffy closed his eyes blissfully. Dream or not, he was going to be damned if he didn’t revel in every second of this. His hands immediately moved so that he could cup Law’s cheeks and kiss him deeper, drinking the sound of his beautiful human’s moan into his mouth and yes, sir, Luffy would love more of that. 

 

Law’s arms slowly encircled him, hands trailing up and down his back as if to encourage. Luffy hummed delightedly, tilting his head a bit for an open-mouthed kiss. His eyes almost snapped open again when Law’s tongue slid inside his mouth without any hesitation, making Luffy press himself firmly against Law as his hands felt the man’s chest, blunt nails scraping skin. Law moaned again. A certain hardness was rubbing against Luffy’s thigh, making him shudder.

 

“Law…” Luffy whispered, sucking his human’s lower lip, “...You’re hard.”

 

“So are you.” Law mumbled into the kiss, his tongue running teasingly across Luffy’s lips so that the demon’s tongue chased after him, but Law moved away so he could speak, “I don’t think I have enough energy for sex, though.”

 

The mere thought that his human actually considered having sex with him was enough to make Luffy whimper with want as his head fell on Law’s shoulder.

 

“So does this mean you can’t feed without sex?”

 

Law’s question was supposed to be expected, but that caught Luffy off-guard. For a moment there, he really wasn’t sure. He  _ wanted _ to have sex with Law, but he didn’t really  _ need _ it to feed. Sure, in the long-run, it was a necessity, but right now… Luffy was just suddenly overly attentive to his human.

 

“I-I… can… Blood is enough...” Luffy could feel his breathing getting heavier. He was excited, no doubt, no denying. “For now.”

 

“Do you want to?” Law placed kisses on his jaw, “I mean, you have to right?” The man slowly whispered in his ear and god damn, did he have to? Not that Luffy was complaining but,  _ damn _ .

 

“We have to get you fed.”

 

“Y-yeah, I guess.” Luffy was feeling lost. Which was a need and which was a want? What else mattered aside from Law? “But… But are you sure you want to feed me?”

 

Law’s breathing was hitching. His pulse was going faster. His muscles were tensing. He was nervous. He was shy. He was embarrassed. Luffy could feel  _ everything _ . And yet his eyes were smoldering with curiosity and pent-up emotion and the more Luffy gazed into those orbs of dark grey, the more he realized he wanted to know more about this man. Nothing else mattered right now except this human. Luffy’s attention was so heavily and solely focused on Law that he could feel everything down to the last breath he made before he said, “Yes, Luffy, I’m sure I want to feed you.”

 

It echoed like a beautiful song.    
  


Want. He said  _ want _ .

 

“Law…” Luffy drew closer to Law’s face so he could look at him properly and good god, the man’s breath against his lips was beautiful torture, “Law, I—Mmhhh!”

 

Luffy’s never been bonded before so he wasn’t sure if that was causing all the sensations jarring his brain from every direction, but it was a very welcome feeling. The possibility of both of them being driven blind and mad with lust was so high, but Luffy wasn’t complaining and it didn’t seem like Law was either. Especially now that his hands were sliding under Luffy’s shirt. Everywhere he touched, Luffy could feel jolts of pleasure just before his skin felt like it caught fire.

 

The heat that was spreading across Luffy’s skin was soon searing into his bones so much that he didn’t think it was wise to be clothed anymore. He pulled away so he could sit up and quickly took off his oversized hoodie, throwing it aside with reckless abandon. Sure, it smelled like Law, but compared to the man itself, that piece of clothing was worth  _ nothing _ . Just as when he was about to lean back to kiss Law again, he felt the man’s palms on his back. Law pushed him forward and—to Luffy’s sheer delightful alarm—started licking one of his nipples.

 

“L-Law…!” Luffy gasped loudly, fingers digging into Law’s inked shoulders as he fidgeted on the man’s lap, making their erections brush against each other to send jolts of pleasure up their spine. Good god, was this really Law? Was he doing this? Luffy looked down just to be sure and his eyes met Law’s own. He was staring up at Luffy, watching him react as his sinful tongue worked its magic.

 

Did he  _ really, really _ not want to have sex?

 

Closing his eyes, Law gently puckered around Luffy’s nipple, licking randomly, humming contentedly.

 

“Aaah!” Luffy’s body heaved with pleasure, his eyes throwing back, eyelids shutting. “L-La-Law…If you keep… If you doing this....” the breathless little demon was bending backwards, arching forward towards Law’s divine ministrations, “...I’m going to end up  _ needing  _ to have sex with you...”

 

“Oh…” Law muttered lowly, darkly, thickly as he gave the sensitive bud one last lazy lick, “I’m sorry.”

 

It seemed Luffy had learned something new. His human was a condescending teasing prick in bed, wasn’t he?

 

That just made Luffy’s blood boil with more desire so that his open mouth ended up pressed on Law’s neck. Law’s leg twitched in surprise as soon as he felt Luffy’s lips on his skin, taking a deep breath almost immediately.

 

Was he bracing himself for fangs? Was he expecting Luffy to feed now? Oh, no, not yet. He was going to be in for a surprise. His little human needed to be taught a cute little lesson about how he shouldn’t tease his incubus.

 

Without waiting for Law to calm down, Luffy started sucking against Law’s skin, careful not to scathe. That would be for later. Now was the appetizer. Law squirmed against him, his chest rising and falling heavily against Luffy’s like it was trying to cope with what was going on. The gasps coming from his human were too utterly delicious, and it was taking almost all of Luffy’s willpower not to just puncture him immediately and drink his blood.

 

“L-Lu—!”

 

Law was almost writhing between Luffy and the headboard as his tattooed hands gripped the sheets, jaw stiff from gritting his teeth like he was going to go insane if he didn’t. He’s fighting. He’s fighting back. But Luffy was on hell-bent mission to breaking that resolve.

 

The demon sucked harder, making Law arch forward, desperately trying to keep his eyes open, but failing. His large hand flew to Luffy’s head, gripping Luffy hard by the hair and holy fuck the small tremors across his scalp were just marvelous. 

 

_ Give up, Law. Just give up. _

 

And that seemed to have done it. Law moaned back, relaxing like his body was melting. His fingers were starting to run through Luffy’s hair, coaxing him to keep going. Luffy hummed against Law’s skin, sucking some more and licking Law’s skin before he leaned back to look at the result of his efforts. He wasn’t let down by what he saw.

 

Law was breathing from his mouth when Luffy was done marking him and for someone who had just succumbed to Luffy’s lips, he looked very feral and obstinate. But he also looked very beautiful with his head thrown to the side, his neck exposed, and a bright red mark on his skin.

 

The incubus studied his human carefully. If a star was born everytime Luffy thought Law was gorgeous, the night sky would be as bright as day. And if each star was born to be as bright as how Luffy was overwhelmed by his man, then right now, Luffy would’ve made a star to rival the sun.

 

“Are you done?” Law huffed, his voice husky and sounding more sensual to Luffy than it probably was. But he was still looking at Luffy dominantly. He hadn’t given up. Not the slightest. Luffy’s fine with that.

 

The little demon licked his lips.

 

“Not even started.” 

 

Law grunted with a devilish smirk

 

This man needed to learn the rules.

 

Luffy’s lips came crashing down, his head tilted, his mouth open, but it was Law’s tongue who first slid inside like it couldn’t wait anymore. And damn. God damn indeed. Fucking dominant little mortal. Law adjusted so their lips would better lock in place, his tongue frantic, hungry, and so fucking  _ aggressive _ . What  _ was  _ this human? Why was he trying to take over? Hadn’t he given up? Wasn’t he going to  _ feed _ Luffy?  

 

But how could Law think about rules and roles when Luffy’s moans were getting louder and louder so that it made Law’s blood sizzle all the more? How was he expected to sit there and be food when his incubus’ hot little mouth tasted so much better now that Law had the time, liberty, and privacy to enjoy his exploration? Luffy felt so small in Law’s arms and felt so light on Law’s lap that it was almost unbelievable that he could toss a man thrice his size with much ease.

 

And yet he he could. He was just  _ that strong _ . Law was supposed to be scared and nervous. He should want to run away right now. And yes, somewhere in his gut, he was feeling all that, but he was also so fucking painfully hard. Law let himself get excited, which was  _ wrong _ on so many levels. His dick was a confused piece of shit. Not that Law’s brain was doing any better.

All his consciousness wanted right now was to make the boy whimper, moan, cry,  _ beg _ —scream his name and say to whom he belonged to.

  
To Law.

 

Luffy was Law’s little incubus.

 

His  _ very own incubus. _

 

Luffy broke their passionate lip-locking in favor of placing fervent kisses across Law’s jaw and yes, keep going. It felt good enough for Law to turn his head towards the other side to give Luffy more access. The man’s hands slid down Luffy’s body, tracing his spine, and going further down until he was grabbing his ass. Holy sweet fucking hell, it felt great doing that earlier today in the changing room, but right now it just felt—

 

“A-aahh, Luffy!”

 

It was sudden. There were teeth against Law’s skin, sinking into his flesh, making him open his mouth to yell some more, but nothing came out. It was just him gasping for air. He was expecting some sort of stabbing pain to travel through his joints, but no. There was nothing but heat that spread from the point where Luffy had bitten as bright flashes and sparks took over Law’s mind like the sky came crashing down. There was a wave of pleasure coursing through his veins, fueling his desire, making him want more. More  _ what _ , though?

 

“L-Luffy…!”

 

The demon responded with a moan, sucking sounds making its way into Law’s ears. Luffy was drinking Law’s blood. He should be scared, but he really wasn’t. The ecstasy of having the demon’s mouth on his neck was beyond Law’s comprehension. His vision was swaying and he could barely feel his hands gripping Luffy’s ass until he pushed him forward, their clothed erections brushing against each other like electric pleasurable torture. Desire flooded Law’s consciousness as he lifted his hips to meet Luffy’s again and his mind was slowly driven to the edge by the muffled moaning that Luffy was making into his neck. 

 

Yes, that felt good. That felt  _ amazing _ .

 

The little demon tried to struggle to move at his own desired pace but Law was having none of that as tattooed hands forced his preferred rhythm. Luffy growled against the man’s delicious skin, but Law just grunted back, blinded by how all of this was so filling to his persona. He wanted this. He  _ needed _ this. And maybe if he wasn’t afraid of his stamina running out on him to make him collapse mid-sex, Law would fuck Luffy right now. He wanted to flip him over on his hands and knees and thrust into that lithe body so hard and good that Luffy would fail to comprehend what was going on. But he couldn’t right now, at least not with full confidence.

 

If only he had the guts in the changing room earlier today.

 

Suddenly, Law could see it clearly—Luffy shoved up against the wall in the fitting room, shirt pushed up under his chin, his chest flushed, and his nipples hardened. The boy was naked from the waist down, panting desperately, looking up needily with sweat trickling down his hot skin as Law adjusted him over his hard, dripping cock. They never got to that point earlier today so this wasn’t a memory but why give a fuck about reality when he could focus on entering Luffy in just one push to elicit a sweet, pleasurable cry?

 

“F-fu-fuck, Luffy…! Fuck…!”

 

Back to reality in Law’s bedroom, Luffy hummed against Law’s skin, lips sealed around the spot where he had bitten so he could drink his human’s blood while visions took over his mortal consciousness. And Luffy could see all of it—Law’s tattooed hands and arms holding Luffy’s legs on either side of his bare torso with his pants pulled down just enough so he could push his cock into Luffy with much so much passionate hunger. His eyes were fiery, filled with ardent desire like he wasn’t going to stop thrusting even if it rained fire and brimstone. Luffy almost shuddered at that. It was  _ Law _ who thought of everything. This was his human’s desire.

 

Law had some sort of  _ desire _ for him.

 

Fuck. Now all Luffy wanted was to give his human all that pleasure and more.

 

Law bucked his hips forward, his mind lost in a trance of thrusting into the small body that was making loud gasps and moans for Law to keep going. He could feel his fingers against Luffy’s hips, pulling the boy towards him to meet his thrusts. Inside Law’s little world, Luffy just kept on screaming for more, telling him things like how amazing his cock felt inside, how he was thrusting so good, how his mind was in shambles, and how he wanted Law to fill him inside, but even then he’d want more.

 

Insatiable little thing. What was Law to do with him?

 

“Law…” he could hear Luffy’s voice, breathless and quite hoarse from all the screaming “Law, I want to come.”

 

God damn.

 

“Please,  _ please _ , let me come.”

 

God fucking  _ damn it _ .

 

And then suddenly it was Law who was coming. He’d only now become aware of how hard he was thrusting his hips against Luffy who met his pace just as fervently, moaning loudly and breathing heavily while still sucking the blood off the man’s neck. Just how much had he been drinking? Law just couldn’t care, not with the image of Luffy shuddering as he came, the feeling of him convulsing around Law’s cock that was spilling everything he had, and yet the boy was still begging to be filled with more. 

 

“Luffy…! Luffy, god damn it…!” 

 

The sane part of Law’s brain knew it wasn’t really happening but the rest of his brain had told that logical half to go fuck itself.

 

His demon felt so good, so awesome, so amazing, so insanely mind-blowing, so…

 

Luffy’s lips left his skin. It was the only time Law did start to come back to his senses.

 

What in the world was that? His breaths were coming so hard and fast, it was like his brain had no supply of oxygen for the past few minutes. He was currently still tired, but at least he was not  _ fatigued _ . And the food he had eaten earlier seemed to have gotten into his system. It didn’t feel like there was a gaping hole in his stomach anymore either. The whole thing was refreshing in its own way despite both of them being covered in sweat. But holy hell, what just happened? Did he just  hump Luffy until he came in his pants? What the fuck? Was that what it meant to feed an incubus? Was it going to be like this every time? They didn’t even have sex yet… did they?

 

Luffy gently pulled away so he could look at his boyfriend, brushing the man’s hair off his face as Luffy whispered, “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah.” Law could barely get the word out with how he was still half-dazed and gasping for air, “You?”

 

“Of course, I’m okay.” Luffy leaned over and kissed his forehead. Wasn’t it adorable how his human cared sometimes?

 

“No, I meant…” Law tried to adjust Luffy on top of him and only now realized how he was slouching on the bed, “Did you come, too?”

 

“O-oh.” Luffy blinked, caught off-guard at the question because since when did “okay” mean “coming” in Law’s world? “Um… Yeah… I came when you did.”

 

_ You wanted me to _ .

 

“Okay.” Law took a deep breath as if to brace himself for some sort of heavy or sudden movement, “You’re changing, too.”

 

“Ch-change?” Luffy sounded perplexed as Law tapped on his thigh. The small demon rolled off his human and watched him get out of bed and stagger towards the drawers. What was he trying to accomplish if he was already so tired? 

 

“Law? What are you do—” The rest of the sentence had no value whatsoever compared to the sight of Law stepping out of his pants to put on a new pair of boxers. He didn’t even bother to go to the bathroom to change so Luffy could see him literally butt-naked and that was just…  Was he  _ that _ tired!? His poor little human barely had any sleep or lunch and then had to feed his stamina to Luffy’s tattoos on his skin. His poor little Law.

 

“You, too.” Law grabbed a clean pair of boxers and tossed it to Luffy on the bed, “Get out of your pants and change.”

 

“Huh…?” Luffy blinked dumbly and Law had no strength or mind to check if Luffy was wearing it right. There was only the left leg and the right leg. Surely, Luffy couldn’t screw that up.

 

Well, maybe if Law didn’t just flaunt his body while falling on the bed in just his underwear then it might not have been so difficult for Luffy to think straight. It wasn’t even awkward to him how Law was crawling on his belly towards the pillow. He actually thought it was cute. Like, yeah, try to sexually fight a god damn incubus again, why don’t you?

 

“Uuurgh…” Law groaned into the pillow as Luffy grabbed the underwear Law had tossed earlier and crawled out of bed, “You didn’t tell me it was going to be like that.”

 

“Be like what?” Luffy got out of his clothes so he could put on a new pair of boxers. 

 

“Never mind.” Law’s hand was feeling around the bed, trying to find a body next to him, but Luffy was out of reach, “Where are you?” He lifted his head, looked around, and then clicked his tongue when he finally spotted Luffy standing in only his boxers, “Tsk! What are you doing there?”

 

Luffy just blinked dumbly at him. He was a bit hesitant to crawl towards the spot beside Law because the might push him off like he did last night. But this man was really different from his usual self during and after sex, wasn’t he?

 

“Come here.” Law impatiently patted the space next to him and Luffy wasn’t about to waste an offer like that. He climbed onto the bed and carefully crawled towards the space next to Law. The man shifted so he was lying on his side and proceeded to wrap his arms around Luffy and pulled him closer.

 

Huh? What was going on? Law liked to cuddle suddenly?

 

“Law?” Luffy began.

 

“Shut up.” Law grunted before Luffy could ask about anything. His arms tightened around his demon in an attempt to stop him from saying any more, “Don’t talk.”

 

Aha, so he  _ did _ like cuddling, but he was embarrassed by it. Some humans did like hugs after sex or an orgasm because it made them settle down better, but Luffy never really stuck around to find out or learn more. So Law was the first human he encountered who was actually a cuddler. How cute. That meant Luffy was always going to get cuddles after feeding, which was very good dessert on any day. Luffy nudged himself closer with a smile, listening to Law’s soft breathing, and his slowly calming heartbeat.

 

“Huunnggrrarngr…” 

 

“Huh?” Luffy tried to look up, but Law’s arms just tightened around him and one long leg swung over his body to prevent him from going anywhere while the man kept on mumbling incoherent things.

 

“Law?”

 

“Can’t...” Law muttered barely awake and then placed a light kiss on Luffy’s head before mumbling some more and then snoring softly.

 

Well, it seemed his human had fallen asleep. Luffy smiled to himself as he snuggled closer.

 

After being with his human for twenty-four hours, Luffy had decided that right here, right now was the best place in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in a day! Yay! Half of this was originally part of chapter six, but I had to split it when it got to ten thousand words. Reviews are welcome, encouraged, and appreciated. :) Thank you!


	8. The Perception of Distance

“L-L-Luffy…! Ah!”

 

Law’s head threw back onto the pillow as he writhed on the bed—naked, sweaty, and breathless. How did it come to this?  _ How _ ? What was he thinking saying “yes” to Luffy actually giving him a blow job in the middle of the god damn night? Where did his logic and reason go? How was he—His cock hit the back of Luffy’s throat.

 

“Fuck!”   
  


A tattooed hand landed on the head bobbing up and down between his legs, gripping the boy’s hair. Law was so confused right now. He woke up to Luffy licking his chest and looking up with such lustful and needy eyes, begging to be fucked, and offering that he’d ride Law so good (“I can’t take it anymore. Please let me ride you.”). But Law was still a bit tired and Luffy, by some form of sexual miracle, suddenly learned how to negotiate.

 

_ ”If you don’t want to have sex with me, then let me suck you off, at least. I promise it’ll be good. It’ll be awesome. I’ll take in all of you. I’ll swallow everything down to the last drop. I just need you inside me no matter what, no matter how. ” _

 

And that’s how they reached a damn compromise about Luffy just giving him a blow job. Law had already come once and true to his promise, Luffy really  _ swallowed everything _ . But that didn’t mean he was done, apparently. He just wiped his mouth and licked his lips and then took Law’s manhood inside that hot, passionate thing he called a mouth. Again.

 

How did Law even have any energy left to be hard?

 

Now Luffy hummed around him and it was almost insane how he managed to just take all of Law’s dick in his mouth like it was some sort of amazing delicacy. Law felt like the most delicious thing on the planet. Was it too smug for him to think that Luffy was lucky he was letting him suck his dick? Where did that thought even come from? The way his incubus’ tongue was moving inside his mouth was so sinfully good that—

 

“A-ahh!”

 

Law thrusted into Luffy’s mouth and what was the little demon’s reaction?  _ Moaning _ . Prolonged, enjoyable, lustful,  _ moaning _ . Like he wanted more. Like he wanted Law to do that again. Now  _ how _ was a man supposed to go to bed like this? How was he supposed to go to university tomorrow without being bothered by this? So Law  _ did  _ thrust his hips up again, you know, for  _ closure _ , and Luffy just moaned louder as if saying “Again. Please, again.”

 

“You... Little…! Ghh…!”

 

Law gripped Luffy’s hair tightly, his hips pushing into the little demon’s mouth again, and sweet merciful blinding skies, the boy sucked hard so that his cheeks hollowed and right that instant, Law’s orgasm swept over his soul. He was coming so hard, he thought his life was flashing before his eyes. 

 

And Luffy  _ still _ swallowed everything. Fucking  _ hell _ .

 

The incubus pulled back and sat up, licking his lips, and smiling so devilishly sweet at Law. Smug little shit.

 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of how you taste.” 

 

Law’s face heated up, but he couldn’t say anything. It was taking so much effort to look like he was sane and breathing. His vision was swaying so he had to close his eyes for a bit to stabilize himself. 

 

“What the—!” Law’s eyes opened wider than he thought they could. It was a wrong decision to ever let his guard down because again, again,  _ again _ with Luffy’s god damn mouth!

 

He should say “stop” or “no” or even just “wait”. At this very moment, Law  _ knew _ that Luffy would  _ listen _ to him for sure. So maybe that’s why he wasn’t saying it? Because if Law said stop, he’d stop? Huh? What was the issue again? He needed to have his mental health checked!

 

“Lu… Luf… Luffy…” Law panted, his hands ruffling Luffy’s hair as he lifted his head from the pillow so he could look at the naked little demon sucking him off, “Do you… Do you know... what time it is?”

 

The boy actually stopped what he was doing, pulled Law’s aching hardness out of his mouth and said, “Mmm… I don’t know.” His tongue swirled at the tip as he stared heatedly at Law, “Sex o’clock?”

 

Oh, clever pun, but Law checked and the digital clock read 2:04 AM. 

 

“It’s fucking  _ two in the morning _ , Luffy.” Law groaned, his head dropping back on the pillow as his other arm covered his eyes.

 

“Yeah,  _ fucking two in the morning _ .” The boy snickered and then dragged his tongue up and across Law’s length, “Those two could be us. What do you say?”

 

_ I say shut up and suck that dick, you— _

 

But Law didn’t say that. Although Luffy might have  _ felt _ that thought because he just chuckled and whispered, “Looks like I need to get back to work…” And just took Law in his mouth in one smooth go and if Law didn’t thrust his hips up to meet that movement then he would’ve gone mad.

 

What was wrong with him? Law should still be in slumber land. He was trying to recover from the lack of sleep and so much fatigue from yesterday. Being awake and receiving orgasms at such an ungodly hour was not in line with those plans no matter how good it felt or sounded like.

 

But this hot fucking  _ mouth _ .

 

“How am I even still hard?” Law groaned. His brain had just given up on understanding his current situation and opted to just succumb to the pleasure. Luffy chuckled around his dick and even  _ that _ was confusing. People weren’t supposed to laugh during a blow job (Uprofessional? Oh my god, Law was learning jokes) but he sounded like he was choking and the vibrations were so good and, god, Law had turned into a sick, perverted man who should be ashamed of himself.

 

“Law, have you forgotten?” Luffy said, placing kisses on the tip of Law’s hardness, “I’m an incubus.” 

 

Yes, that was given. And? The point was?

 

“I’ve had you in my mouth and licked you, too...”

 

Law furrowed his eyebrows. What did that mean?

 

“...You’re going to be hard for me when I want you to be. For tonight at least.”

 

Oh.

 

That did  _ not  _ sound good. Or maybe it did? Now, wait, what? What did that—

 

“Now if you’ll excuse me…” Luffy licked his lips, “...I’m going to blow your mind so hard, you’re going to wish you just had sex with me.”

 

Was that a threat? 

 

“Luffy, you—Gaagh!”

 

And Law’s cock was once again engulfed by heat.

 

_ You fucking hellspawn! _

  
  


* * *

 

 

“Well, aren’t you two looking nice and healthy?” Zoro greeted at The Spirale. Law instinctively reached for his neck that was covered by a large medication patch. He never wanted to spew venom so much until now. He was so damn tired and he had to hide the giant hickey Luffy left on his neck. What part of him looked nice and healthy to Zoro!?

 

Law rarely questioned his logic and decision-making capabilities, but last night had been pure bullshit miscalculation and misinformation. Luffy had gone down on him  _ multiple times _ . Multiple, because he really wasn’t sure how many times he came. He passed out after the fourth or fifth time and he really didn’t know anymore. He didn’t remember anything after that. The next thing he knew was being naked on his bed, his arms around an equally nude Luffy curled quietly next to him.

 

“Bet you can guess why!” Luffy happily skipped inside the cafe as Zoro held the door open for them. The Spirale was still closed and both Zoro and Sanji were still only preparing to open the shop when Law and his boyfriend from hell came knocking to hopefully drop him off.

 

“Oh my god, Law, what happened?!” Sanji exclaimed as he hurriedly walked out of the counter so that he could slap Luffy with a towel, “What did you do!?”

 

Law gave out a sigh of relief.  _ That _ was the reaction Law was expecting. Sanji was the only human Law knew would ever understand.

 

“Hey!” Luffy fidgeted and stepped closer to Law,“Okay, that hurt, but I’m in a good mood so I’ll let that pass.”

 

“What did you say!?” Sanji started twirling the towel in an attempt to swat Luffy’s face with it.

 

“Waaahh!” Luffy ran to Law’s other side, screaming while pointing at Sanji, “Zoro, your human!” 

 

“Let him be, Luffy.” Zoro laughed, as he leaned on the counter, “Maybe he’s just having flashbacks on how he couldn’t walk straight after the first—Ow!”

 

Sanji slapped Zoro’s mouth with the towel instead.

 

“You say something stupid like that again and I’ll fillet your mossy scalp!” The blonde barista glared, “Fucking  _ try me _ .”

 

Yup. If Law could trust anyone to be on his side in this demon-host matter, that would be Sanji. He could only wonder how this man survived being bonded to an incubus on his own. But then again, Zoro looked more reasonable than Luffy so that might not have been as difficult to deal with.

 

“Sanjiiiii?” A female voice came from behind the door to the backroom.

 

“Yes, Nami-swan?” Sanji hurriedly trotted towards the small door that creaked open so Law could see Nami’s vibrant orange hair, “Did something happen to my favorite custo—Oh, there he is.”

 

Law waved. Nami waved back albeit faintly. Sanji adjusted so he could shield her from the sunlight using his own shadow. She must really hate the sun. Now Law felt bad having to come over and disturb her for his favor. Sure, he was going to pay her for the trouble if necessary, but that didn’t mean Law wasn’t being inconsiderate for asking out of the blue.

 

“You look much better than yesterday.” The girl smiled with a thumbs up at Law. What? How was he looking any better than yesterday? Again, yes, he wasn’t as fatigued, but he was really tired from his dick being gatling-blown by Luffy a few hours ago.

 

“I’m sorry, mellorine, but…” Sanji looked at Law and then back at Nami, “...Could you help me comprehend how Law looks much better? He doesn’t seem better to me.”

 

See? Law was right in trusting Sanji to always know what had to be said or asked.

 

“Actually, Law wanted to talk to you guys about something.” Luffy spoke up, cutting Law’s thoughts as he felt Luffy’s fingers lightly curl around his tattooed hand, “Could we maybe talk in the back room? ‘Coz Nami’s gonna suffer out here.”

 

“Oh?” Sanji looked at Law as if asking him why he hadn’t spoken up earlier and Law was not sure what expression he was wearing that made Sanji say, “Sure, don’t worry about it. We’re still closed anyway.”

 

Nami was the first to turn and head back to the solitude of the room’s shade as Luffy led Law inside. Zoro was starting towards them when Sanji snapped at him harshly.

 

“No. You stay out here.” Sanji raised a middle finger at the man, his voice solid and pissed, “I hate you.”

 

The green-haired waiter blinked at that, but just smiled before shrugging and went behind the counter.

 

“Heh.”, Zoro picked up a rag and wiped the already shiny wooden surface, “That’s not what he said last night.”

 

* * *

 

 

Law was expecting Luffy to throw a tantrum before he left. Miraculously, he didn’t. In fact, asking Sanji if he could leave Luffy at The Spirale went smoother than Law thought it would. It could have been because he mentioned he was going to pay Nami extra. The woman practically chirped “yes” for the whole cafe and Sanji wasn’t someone who was designed by nature to tell a woman to shut up. She also answered the question about how Law looked better today than yesterday. To put simply, the demons could see he wasn’t dying of poison anymore. So even if Law’s human body felt like shit, his inner mana frame was healthy as fuck. And that was thanks to Luffy’s tattoos.

 

To elaborate (which was what Law was after because details mattered), stamina and life essence or mana were two different things. Stamina is physical. Mana was not. Stamina went down with mana, but mana didn’t care if stamina was low. How a human used his mana in relation to stamina was apparently a big deal, but Nami really didn’t know how. So fuck that. 

 

Now that Law had actually fed Luffy, the tattoos on his skin had stopped being angry and were no longer terrorizing the life essence from Law’s blood. Moreover, the tattoos have recognized Law as a provider and are now actually helping to keep him healthy internally until such time that Law neglected to feed Luffy again. 

 

So what did that tell Law? First, it was that demon microorganisms were confusing, double-edged little fuckers with no loyalty. Second, he needed to feed Luffy regularly because it was actually  _ healthy _ for them both. That meant more mind-blowing, vision-inducing orgasms that Law wasn’t sure he could survive. They hadn’t even had actual sex yet (Or had they? Did his visions count?) and whatever experience he had with Luffy was already out of this world. Third, Nami had provided so much information that Law couldn’t have hoped to receive from Luffy and he should really get her something nice as a sign of gratitude.

 

“I’d say good morning, but you look like you sold your soul to the devil himself.” A female voice brought Law back to attention. He looked up to see his pink-haired lady friend approaching him from the right. Well, Bonney was early, not that it was unusual. She was always first to raid student breakfast meal promos. Law watched her take the last bite of what seemed to be a waffle before she crumpled its paper wrap and tossed it into a nearby trash bin.

 

“And if I have?” Law’s fingers carefully reached for his neck to make sure the patch was still there. And why in the fucking hell was she wearing a fedora? Last time it was a baseball cap. The other time, she was wearing a fisherman’s hat. What was with all of his friends’ obsession with hats?

 

“Well,” Bonney started digging for something in her coat’s giant pocket, “That just strengthens my theory that the end truly  _ is _ near.”

 

“What?” Law watched her pull out her phone, resisting the urge to tip his head towards her so he could take a peek.

 

“Trafalgar D. Water Law.” Bonney said in a sing-song voice, cocking her head left and right, “What the fuck is this?” She pushed her large phone into Law’s face.

 

“What are you showing my nose?” Law moved his head away, squinting at the sudden object jarring his vision at such close range that he had to stop walking. Bonney laughed and moved her hand backward for a bit so Law could look properly.

 

It was a blurred picture of him at the mall tying Luffy’s shoelaces. Luffy was looking—dare he say lovingly? No, demons didn’t know love, remember?—looking  _ nicely _ at his human boyfriend who was kneeling in front of him. The photo was unfocused probably thanks to it being zoomed in and Penguin hurriedly taking the photo so it mostly looked like Law was just romantically kneeling in front of his little boyfriend. Which he wasn’t. 

 

Law opened his mouth to say something but Bonney lifted a finger and went, “Nuh-uh. Not yet. Swipe left.”

 

Mentally cursing both Penguin and Shachi, Law cautiously swiped left and was bombarded by a pale wacky face with blonde hair.

 

“The hell are you showing me Hawkins’ stupid photo for!?” Law grimaced, shoving Bonney’s phone away from his face in disgust. 

 

“Oh! Sorry, that’s for blackmail.” Bonney looked at her phone and started swiping before going, “Aha! Here!” And showing her phone to Law who leaned slightly to see another blurry picture of him and Luffy. This time, the photo was taken from behind with Luffy doing his annoying pouty face while clinging onto Law’s arm as he was inspecting a wallet among several on display. Law was reminded of having to buy a new one because of the stupid sticker Luffy had stuck on the one he just bought.

 

“There’s another!” Bonney said and swiped again this time to show Law the photo that he had caught Penguin taking. It was the picture of Luffy hugging him from behind while Law was trying to look back and say something. His incubus looked genuinely happy. The smile he was wearing in this photo was so unlike his devilish smirks this morning. One of these days, incubus or not, Law was going to show that little devil just who the fuck was in char—Okay, inappropriate thinking in broad daylight. Time to focus on getting vengeance on Penguin and Shachi.

 

“How am I friends with the assholes who sent this?” Law pulled on the strap of his backpack as both he and Bonney continued walking.

 

“Reminder that they’re your friends  _ because _ they’re assholes.” Bonney said, locking her phone and sliding it in her bag before shrugging at Law, “We all are. Moreover…” the woman punched him hard in the arm, “How are we friends  _ at all _ if you don’t tell me this shit!?” And then she pushed him with enough force to send him a few paces away from her, “Seeing each other for two weeks and officially together  _ two days ago _ and you  _ never  _ told me about the shadow of this person!?”

 

“Stop attacking me, woman!” Law took two more steps away from her.

 

“You kept your boyfriend a secret from me, Law!” Bonney practically chased him while gesturing to maim him with her large shoulder bag, “Who the fuck do you think you are!?”

 

“You, know I don’t really need to—Bonney, no!”

 

“Aren’t I like a sister to you, dumb fuck!?”

 

The pink-haired amazonian monster called “friend” lunged at him towards the grassy part of the university grounds. Her hat tumbled on the grass as Law’s backpack fell to the ground with a thud. She then proceeded to grapple him until he was face down and on his stomach before squatting on top of him, lifting his legs so it bent towards his head. Getting a Boston crab hold in the middle of the god damn university was not Law’s ideal way of starting the day.

 

“Don’t you fucking care what we look like!?” Law tilted his head so that his cheek was pressed against the grass. He quickly found that it was difficult to yell in this position. Law pushed himself up, but that only proved to make the hold more painful. 

 

“Did you fucking care about our friendship!?” Bonney yelled, offended, and Law could see people eyeing them whether out of curiosity, mockery, or surprise. Embarrassing. Both he and Bonney were student assistants and while that didn’t make them as popular as the varsity team, a lot of people pretty much knew their faces.

 

“Bonney, please don’t kill him. We’re friends.” The approaching male voice was being sarcastically timid. Law might not have an idea about what face they were making but what he  _ could _ tell however was who owned the voice. It was the same voice that spoke right after he and Luffy got out of the changing room. Law was so pissed he glared at Penguin’s shoes in front of him.

 

“You assholes, when I get my hands on you…!” Law gripped the grass and tried to push himself up until he felt himself being dragged backwards without Bonney flipping him over. She was still squatting on top of him as she took awkward steps forward, dragging Law behind her like he was some kind of roadkill. Motherfucking Bonney was legitimately trying to murder him and it was a good thing he hadn’t brought Luffy along or  _ else _ …!

 

“I need a confession straight from your traitorous mouth!” Bonney turned so he could partly see Law’s back on the ground, but her movement just made it more painful, “Is he your boyfriend!?”

 

“I’m going to kill all of you!” Law hit the grass with one of his fists. He could now see Penguin and Shachi standing a good distance away from him. They were trying to look like they were not laughing. Law appreciated the effort, but he was still going to kill them. He also soon found out it was difficult to properly glare from this position. He could learn, though, with enough hatred in his system, anything was possible.

 

“Is. He. Your.  _ Boyfriend _ !?” Bonney pulled back harder and Law groaned louder, squeezing his eyes and just giving the hell up.

 

“Yes!  _ Yes _ , god damn it!” Law was this close to just slamming his face on the ground but he remembered it was dirty so, ew, no, he was not getting grass in his mouth, “Let me go! I don’t have the strength for this!”

 

Law had much important things to deal with than trying to breathe underneath his monstrously strong female friend who was trying to goddamn paralyze him. 

 

“Oh my god!” Bonney practically shrieked, pulling on Law’s legs harder like it was some sort of stress relief on the poor man’s expense, “Is that because you had loud, wild, passionate, primal, kinky sex with him last night to continue your fitting room escapades, huh!?”

 

“Ye—I mean, no!  _ No! _ ” Was it going to look desperate if Law tried to crawl out of his friend’s killer hold? “Ow! Ow! Bonney!”

 

“Oh, my! You guys seem to be having a lot of fun.” A calm female voice spoke from the side and all four people standing on the grass stopped what they were doing to look at the owner of said voice.

 

“Kalifa.” Bonney was the first to acknowledge the tall, blonde, slender, beautiful woman with plump lips as she stood on the pavement. The way she wore her hair and did her make-up made her look older than her actual age of twenty-three. Or was it her clothes that made her look older? More mature? More professional? She was fond of body-hugging office clothes coupled with stockings that screamed “sexy secretary” from thirty miles away.

 

“Good morning, Bonney.” The woman smiled, adjusted her glasses, and then looked at Law before smiling wider, “Good morning, Law.”

 

He was currently trapped—against his will, against the ground—in a Boston crab hold. Did it look like the morning was good? The urge to glare was too much. He shouldn’t, though. Glaring hard at Kalifa was not a good idea. He was reserving that right for an occasion that legitimately called for it.

 

Law wanted to give the lady an acknowledging nod but the ground was a hindrance and there was no way he was going to intentionally brush his cheek over the dirt anymore just so he could appear polite. So he just grunted incomprehensibly back. Bonney still didn’t let go even as Kalifa started towards them, the clacking sound of her heels disappearing as she stepped on the grass. Shachi was making a low, cautious noise as he slowly picked up Bonney’s hat on the ground.

 

The young woman knelt down in front of Law who could actually see up her skirt if he tilted his head at the right angle. If he had any interest. Which he hadn’t. He was actually more concerned about how he’d come across Mrs. Giolla’s secretary this early in the day not that he could avoid Kalifa the whole day. He saw  _ her _ more often than he saw Mrs. Giolla.

 

“That looks uncomfortable.” She told him, resting her head on her hands as she smiled at him before she looked at Bonney, “Maybe you’d like to let him go.”

 

“We’re having an internal discussion as friends.” Bonney replied flatly, obviously having no plans of releasing Law any time soon.

 

“Does your “friendly discussion”...” Kalifa tilted her head, making quotation mark signs with her fingers in the air, “...Have to involve injuring him?”

 

“Secretive treason is punishable by grappling.” Bonney leaned towards Kalifa and Law winced at her movement. What in the fucking hell was secretive treason?

 

“That’s not even a term.” Kalifa leaned towards Bonney.   
  
“It is in our circle.” Bonney squeezed Law’s ankles, making the man hiss at her, “I’m not expecting  _ you _ to understand.”

 

“Well, whatever.” Kalifa stood up with a shrug, “Let him go. I need to talk to him.”

 

“About what?” Bonney’s eyes narrowed.

 

“About the student assistant evaluation.” Kalifa raised her head with a very smug look. Bonney grunted and dropped Law’s legs before getting up. Law sighed with relief. One more second of that conversation and he was going to start cussing. But right now, he just let himself lay flat for a moment to let his muscles relax. He wanted to get up, but his legs weren’t up for that challenge yet.

 

_ Bonney, you fucking witch. Your future husband will be a poor battered man. _

 

But, of course, if Law said that, she’d kick him in the gut so he just groaned frustratedly.

 

“Are you okay, Law?” It was almost out of instinct that Law could almost see Kalifa’s hand about to touch him. She  _ always _ tried to touch him and his reaction had  _ always _ been the same.

 

“Whatever you do, don’t fucking touch me.”

 

Maybe he shouldn’t strike that tone when talking to the secretary of the student assistants’ advisor, but he was so fucking  _ irritable _ because of the discomfort he was feeling. Stupid shitty Bonney. Stupid. Shitty. Bonney.

 

“Come on, princess.” Stupid shitty Bonney then offered her hand, which Law glared at first before he took it so she could help him up. His legs still hurt, but at least the blood flow was starting to return to it. He glared at Bonney because  _ that fucking hurt _ and she just glared back because he deserved it. The reason behind this friendship was obviously not a logical one.

 

“Are you okay?” Kalifa again.

 

“Yeah,” Law dusted off the dirt off his pants and coat before looking at the blonde woman in front of him, “What did you want to talk about?”

 

“Mrs. Giolla had been—Wait.”

 

Kalifa’s immediate pause was almost at the same time as her reaching for Law’s hand. 

 

The man’s eyes widened. There were imaginary prickly needles running across his skin from where her fingers came in contact with his. The hairs at the back of his neck were standing up. His forearm was probably going to come off at the elbow.

 

“Law, are these—” 

 

“Tattoos, yes.” 

 

No sooner had Kalifa spoken than Law had quickly pulled his hand back before the blonde secretary could bring it up to her face for closer inspection. For half a second, she looked a bit startled with her eyes wide and blinking with her mouth agape from which she quickly recovered.

 

“Well.” the blonde lady put a finger under her chin, “I’m not sure what Mrs. Giolla would say—”

 

“They’re temporary.” Law picked up his backpack and swung it over his shoulder. There was something stuck in his windpipe right as the last word came out of his mouth, “I’m actually planning on staying as far out of her sight as possible while I…” Law cleared his throat. Maybe he needed water? “...While I wait for these to fade.”

 

He suddenly felt like he should check on Luffy. Odd.

 

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about Mrs. Giolla…” Kalifa smoothened one side of her hair with her hand as a stray wisp fell out of place, “She’s actually been asking me about an update on the library cataloging you’ve been doing with Robin. It’s been a while since that task began, she thinks.”

 

“Why would Mrs. Giolla care about Law’s work with Robin in the medical section of the library?” Bonney was partly laughing as Penguin and Shachi started to exchange glances. Bonney never really got along with Kalifa, but the latter having an obvious massive crush on Law just pushed the former to kick into protective big sister mode every time the blonde was around. That was Bonney being Bonney. Being the only female in the group, she felt like she had to be responsible for the three males she was friends with.

 

“She’s with the arts department.” Pink and protective big sister huffed, “If anyone should be concerned about the recataloging, it should be Professor Clover.”

 

“Because she’s also the student assistants’ advisor and the SA evaluation is coming up.” Kalifa crossed her arms over her chest, “Or have you forgotten?” The blonde young woman tilted her head to one side, “If you need to be updated with the schedules, you can come check with me. It’s part of my job as Mrs. Giolla’s secretary, after all.”

 

Bonney’s desire to punch Kalifa was so strong, it made Penguin and Shachi fidget. The blonde lady’s eyes started drifting to Law’s hands again. He felt conscious, but didn’t make any attempt to hide his fingers.

 

“These aren’t going away tomorrow or the next day,” Law decided to speak first, ignoring the weird tugging at his stomach, “But it’ll be gone by then.” 

 

Law had decided he wasn’t going to be anxious from people noticing his tattoos anymore. He and Luffy were going to find a way to break the bond as soon as possible. He still had no idea how, but he needed to find a way. It was the best option, no, the  _ only _ option. These tattoos  _ had _ to be temporary. He was sticking to that story and he was going to  _ act like it _ . So he didn’t have to look worried if there was nothing to be worried about.

 

Kalifa took a contemplative deep breath, twisting her lips as she studied Law’s face.

 

“What?” Law asked.

 

“I was thinking of how you can’t report to Mrs. Giolla looking like  _ that _ without getting in trouble.” She pointed with her open palm at his hands like it was such a big fucking problem. Okay,  _ sure _ , maybe it was a big problem, but did she have to make it look like it was going to totally destroy his future? She didn’t know what these were. It’s a story. It’s an identity. It’s  _ Luffy’s. _ What the fuck does  _ she _ know?

 

“Unless…”

 

Kalifa starting to talk again forced Law to stop being pissed for a while so he could pay attention. 

 

“Unless you update me regularly, I guess.” She continued, tapping her chin thoughtfully with a pout, “I mean, if you update me regularly and I tell her without her having to ask, she won’t have to wonder about you and it’ll reflect positively on your evaluation.”

 

Seriously, if people were going to put on fake faces and expressions, they should at least  _ practice _ so it’s less obvious. 

 

Law wanted to sigh heavily. It was stupid to pretend that he wasn’t aware of what Kalifa was doing. She’d been finding ways for her to constantly find him or to get him to talk to her or giving him gifts from her trips, which he often declined or offering favors he never asked for, but couldn’t say no to. It was, maybe, something she thought she could do because of her position. Why else was she so fucking blatant and almost straightforward? All that was left was for her to tell him she liked him so that he could tell her he wasn’t interested. 

 

It was tolerable at first, but then everything was starting to become annoying as fuck. First of all, it was unprofessional. Secondly, it had the tendency to make things more difficult for him than it should be. But it wasn’t like Law could get her fired that way. And he couldn’t just stop being a student assistant to solely rely on the support of his uncles.

 

“If you’re fine with it, you can contact me via—”

 

“Law’s phone is broken.” Bonney snapped, her voice ending in a growl. Kalifa raised an eyebrow. Penguin and Shachi both took one step closer to Law like he was some sort of safe zone. It would not be surprising if these two started clawing each other’s eyes out in the next second. Except Bonney was more of a god damn grappler and would pretty much have Kalifa in a figure four leg lock if not in a god damn sleeper hold.

 

Also, Shachi was going to let Law borrow a phone. But Kalifa didn’t need to know that.

 

“He can update me personally then.” The secretary lifted her head.

 

Okay, maybe the phone needed to be brought up.

 

“Which defeats the purpose of Mrs. Giolla not seeing him.” The self-appointed older sister took one step forward.

 

“We can meet up during lunch.” Kalifa met that step with her own.

 

“You’re taking a portion of Law’s breaks so he could report to you?” Bonney’s tone was of half-laughing mockery, hands on her waist and one eyebrow raised.

 

“You’d rather he’d report to Mrs. Giolla?” Kalifa tilted her head, eyes squinted a bit, looking at Bonney like she was so fucking stupid.

 

“Or  _ I _ could report to you.” Bonney broke out with one clap and a tone of finality in her words that only had Kalifa reply with an off-guarded, “Excuse me?”

 

Law’s eyebrows raised. He kind of liked where this was going.

 

“Uh-huh.  _ I’m _ going to report to you. Yeah, let’s do  _ that _ .” Bonney took a quick breath, which was pretty much the signal that she was going to start talking like an angry machine gun, “I’ll text you or  _ call you _ with what’s up with me and him. Law and I see each other often and even when we don’t, Pen and Shachi could tell me shit and  _ then _ I could tell to you. That way, you have two SA’s you’re updated with, which makes much more sense than catering to one and it won’t look like you’re  _ favoring anyone _ .”

 

Law was doing his darnest not to snicker after that mouthful.

 

The way Kalifa’s face warped from sassy and aggressive to startled and confused was amusing. She was obviously trying so hard to come up with a reason to decline Bonney’s idea without retracting the offer she made Law. Things like this somehow entertained him. He wasn’t even sorry. Maybe he was a demon himself.

 

Bonney finally looked up at Law and nodded at him, “You okay with that, handsome?”

 

“Yeah.” Law shrugged, “That really saves us time and effort.”

 

There was some sort of fury in Kalifa’s eyes, one that she tried to hide with pursed lips. She looked like someone who had just been cheated into making her plan backfire in her face, which was accurate. Because that’s exactly what Bonney did. But the blonde lady immediately recovered and smiled anyway. It would’ve looked a bit more genuine if she hadn’t worn her previous expression.

 

“Fine then.” Kalifa said with a huff like she just ran around the corner, “I’ll expect regular and detailed updates from you from now on.”

 

“Yes, ma’m!” Bonney put her hat back on and saluted. Law wanted to slap her shoulder and congratulate her for the successful use of her brain on an activity that did not involve food or make-up.

 

“Good. So now that that’s sorted...” The blonde secretary adjusted her glasses and nodded at them before turning to go, “I’m taking my leave.”

 

“Bye!” Shachi waved enthusiastically, but Penguin just decided to keep his arms crossed as Kalifa passed them, waving with a faint smile before hurriedly trotting off.

 

“She finds ways, doesn’t she?” Penguin said lowly, watching the woman hurriedly pull out her phone so she could fiddle with it, text someone or update her social network status or whatever.

 

“Yeah, that lady is  _ seriously _ gunning for Law.” Shachi nodded thoughtfully, “Like  _ really _ aggressively.”

 

“I  _ swear _ , one day, I’m just going to…” Bonney was making crushing actions with her fingers and Law didn’t really want to ask what she was imagining, “Urgh, that  _ bitch _ .” The pink-haired girl then turned to Penguin and smacked him on the shoulder, “This is why I told you to send her the picture!”

 

“Ow! What the fuck!? As if I had her number!” Penguin jerked, taking two steps away from her, “I’m not an SA like the two of you so I  _ obviously _ didn’t have her number.”

 

As if he had the guts to send  _ anything _ to Kalifa. Law wanted to roll his eyes, too. But his friends saved him from having to contact the annoying secretary regularly so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

 

“You should tell her you have a boyfriend now.” Bonney was saying with her mouth full. Law wondered when the hell she took out and opened that granola bar.

 

“And what? Make her think that what she thinks actually  _ matters to me _ ?” Law turned to go and his friends followed suit, “I don’t have to report my life to her.”

 

“That logic is so fucking flawed.” Bonney sighed. With her mouth full. Was that a talent or a defect? Law wondered as she started looking for something in her bag. Probably more food.

 

“Law, she obviously likes you.” Shachi said, poking Law’s lower back from behind where he walked beside Penguin, “At least subtly mention Luffy.”

 

“I’m not going to talk about Luffy for the sake of pissing off someone.” Law slightly turned his head towards Shachi, “She doesn’t even need to know who Luffy is.”

 

“Good god, is the sky falling?!” Bonney put a hand over her eyes to look up sarcastically. Penguin and Shachi laughed behind them. The only female in the group crumpled the granola bar plastic and looked around for a trash bin, “Are you this much of an overprotective boyfriend?”    
  


“I’m not overprotective.” Law grunted as Bonney stuck the crumpled plastic in her bag instead.

 

“Oho?” She huffed and then giggled, turning so she could wave a finger at the two males behind them, “Penguin, my man, were you lying to me about how Law was so concerned about his Luffy breaking his nose.”

 

“Oh, I wouldn’t  _ never _ do that, m’lady!” Penguin raised his hands in defense as Shachi chuckled, “Why would a good man lie?”

 

“All of you are good-for-nothings.” Law mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets as he spoke.

 

“And you’re now better than the three of us because you have a  _ boyfriend _ .” Bonney ran a few steps ahead of them so she could turn around and show them how she spread her arms as she looked up at the sky, “Trafalgar Law has a really cute boyfriend! The end is near! Repeeeeeeeent!”

 

“Repeeeent!” Shachi and Penguin echoed in chorus, raising their hands like the were part of Bonney’s stupid cult. 

 

“Shut up, you embarrassing banshee.” Law’s arm shot out to grab Bonney but she quickly ran out of his reach, picking up the fedora that had fallen from her head, cackling like a witch as her two minions guffawed behind. 

 

Idiots.

  
  


* * *

 

 

Beers were amazing things. How awesome was it that demons could drink this beverage with just drowsiness as a consequence? And how splendid was it that Zoro had such a high tolerance to it? Zoro pulled out three beer cans from the refrigerator as he listened to Luffy yap away about his super duper ultra mega amazing human like he was some golden blessing from the fucking sky. Sanji had sent Zoro upstairs to find out what was up with Law and Luffy as soon as the other employees started to come in. He was still worried about Law’s fate as Luffy’s host and Zoro understood where his beautiful blonde was coming from but  _ come on _ . He should just be honest and say he’s glad he’s  _ finally _ met another human host in the vicinity aside from himself. He was treating, no, _ spoiling _ Law like he was a little baby deer. Sanji was really bad at making friends with males and overeager to make friends with females. Fucking seriously. 

 

Now Luffy was a happy demon on normal days. He was absolutely cheery, positive, and adventurous. Right now, though, Luffy was so radiantly  _ sunny _ that Zoro was surprised his blinding smile wasn’t scathing Nami yet. The smaller incubus was sitting on the couch, clutching a pillow to himself as he told Zoro and Nami about his first “proper” night with Law. He was so giddy, Zoro thought they fucked all night until they reincarnated from sheer pleasure or something.

 

“Wait, so you didn’t have sex yet?” Nami crossed her legs as she sat on the sofa chair, “You just  _ fed _ ?”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Luffy nodded quickly and vigorously, “But!” He fell back with a plopping sound and bounced on the couch like a sappy little shit, “It was  _ amaaaaaaziiiiiiing _ …!”

 

There was a pause before Luffy released a prolonged, dreamy sigh. Nami grimaced and looked back at Zoro who just shrugged as he handed her a beer can.

 

“Amazing feeding you say,” Zoro brushed the beer can against Luffy’s cheek. The boy yelped in surprise at the sudden cold dampness against his skin. Nami giggled before drinking her beer as Luffy took the can.

 

“Excuse me, but…” Zoro popped open his beer, “What kind of weakling  _ are _ you?”

 

“Look here.” Luffy sat up and heavily put the beer on the coffee table (he remembered Law didn’t want him to drink this) as Zoro chugged down from his can, “Just because we didn’t have sex the first night doesn’t mean I’m a god damn weakling. I’m just considerate of my human, you fucking cactus dick.”

 

“Luffy…!” Sanji’s voice came with the sound of the opening door from the bottom of the stairs.

 

“Here!” Luffy waved despite no one seeing him. 

 

“You have a call.” The man was coming up the stairs.

 

“A what?” Luffy crawled towards the end of the couch where he tilted his head at the empty spot that was the top of the stairs.

 

“It’s Law.” Sanji came into view, holding up his phone. Law’s name was like a spell that made Luffy instantly shoot out from where he was sitting all the way to the top of the stairs. The timing was bad, though, and he almost hit Sanji right in the face as he dashed forward. 

 

“Woah!” Sanji tipped back and Zoro cursed before rushing forward like a blur of green and black to keep his human from falling spine first down the stairs. He’d dropped the empty beer can in his haste, but managed to catch Sanji with one arm while his other hand grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt.

 

“Let me go, Zoro!” Luffy struggled, flailing his limbs as Zoro dragged him back towards the living room, “Law’s come here to pick me up early!”

 

Stupid little demon was too excited to even process that he can’t even smell human anywhere near them.

 

“He isn’t downstairs, numbskull!” Zoro threw him onto the couch while still holding onto Sanji with his other arm. The green-haired incubus turned to his human and pressed a kiss on his temple. The barista squirmed, but Zoro just laughed and kissed him again.

 

“Where is he, Sanji!?” Luffy yelled impatiently as he sat up.

 

“Idiot.” Sanji grunted as Zoro put him down, “On the phone.”

 

The blonde human handed Luffy a shiny black square with a lit up surface that supposed to had something to do with Law.   
  
“Oh my gooood!” Luffy held out the small gadget in front of him. There was “Trafalgar Law” flashing in front of the screen and a silhouette of someone’s head in a blinking square and sure it was nice, but where was Law?  _ Where was Law!? _

 

“Sanji!” Luffy got out of the couch and ran to his curly-browed friend, “Sanji, how do I? How do—” Sanji took the phone out of Luffy’s hands and put it properly on the side of his face. Luffy had heard of phones before and how they were used to talk to people who weren’t there, but this was really the first time he was going to use one.

 

“—ffy? Hello?” The voice sounded a bit… Airy? Fluffy? But it did sound like Law, “Hello, Luffy?”

 

“Baby? I mean… I mean, munchkin? Sunshine?  _ Law? _ Is that you?” Luffy clutched the little thing closer to his ear so he could hear Law better. Maybe he could feel his breath, too, if he did that. Nami mouthed “fucking sappy” before drinking more beer.

 

“Yeah.”

 

One word. Law’s voice. So fucking sexy. Luffy was doomed to be trapped in this human’s trance-inducing charm judging by how he immediately felt his heart go pitter-patter in excitement like it was going to burst out of his chest. 

 

“Laaaaaaaaaaw! It iiiis yooouuu!” Luffy ran back to the couch and threw himself on it, “Oh my gooooooooood, I miss you! I miss you! I miss you!”

 

There was a thousand things he wanted to say, actually, but all he could do was roll around the couch. Nami, Zoro, and Sanji exchanged glances each with weird smiles and Luffy can see all of them, but he couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed or feel insulted or just  _ care _ about them.

 

“I finally got the phone Shachi promised to let me borrow. Anyway, how are you?”

 

“I…!” Luffy ran out of words. He was fine. He was okay. But he was missing Law sorely, in a way he didn’t realize until he heard his human’s voice.

 

“Luffy??”

 

“I miss you!” Luffy just spat out. He knew he’d already said that, but he really couldn’t think of anything else to say at the time, “When are you coming to get me?”

 

Luffy’s eyes drifted to the three other individuals in the room. It’s not that they were boring to be with, but his human was just… something else. Luffy wanted to groan. Zoro shrugged, sipping from his second can of beer as Sanji shook his head, smiling. Nami was giggling in her seat. They didn’t seem offended.

 

“In the afternoon.” Law paused, “Like I promised.”

 

“But that’s still  _ hours _ away!” Luffy complained,  lying on his back, and kicking the air, “It’s not even lunch yet!”

 

“We already talked about this.” Law’s voice was stern and if Luffy closed his eyes, he could imagine his human’s expression—eyebrows meeting, eyes narrowed, and nose scrunching just a little teensy bit as he spoke. Luffy could hear Zoro and Sanji talking, but tuned them out of his attention.

 

“Besides,” Law was mumbling lowly and Luffy was imagining him looking sideways and pouting like he didn’t want Luffy to know he was embarrassed or shy, “I just called to test the pho—Oh, sorry! Sorry!” 

 

“What was that?” Luffy’s eyelids flew open as he sat up quickly, “What happened? Are you okay!?”

 

“Nothing,” Law’s voice was distant and then clear again and only then did Luffy notice that there were sounds of people talking like echoes in the background, “I just bumped into someone.”

 

How many people were around Law right now? Could Luffy trust his human being around these fucking strangers?

 

“Did they hurt you? You want me to come over there and—”

 

“No, Luffy, I’m fine. Listen…” Law huffed like he was using more effort in making each step. Was he going up a flight of stairs? He should call more often when he’s doing that. Luffy loved hearing Law’s voice become so breathy, “I have to go now so—”

 

“So soon?” Luffy pouted as he fell back to lying on the couch. Law sounded like he was breathing through the phone, but his breath wasn’t reaching Luffy at all and it was starting to become a bit frustrating. From the side of his vision, Luffy could see Nami stand up and Zoro leaning over to Sanji. Luffy rolled so he was lying on his side, his back facing the rest of the room.

 

“I have work.” Law huffed again and then grunted. There were more weird noises in the background that made Luffy frown a bit. Why can’t these insensitive assholes shut the fuck up for a while? Can’t they see Law was on the phone?

 

“The infirmary is up ahead and oh my god, is it Doctor Hiluluk or Doctor Kureha that’s in today? What day is it? Fuck. Argh, why am I telling you this? I have to go.”

 

Luffy laughed. He wasn’t sure what a hipuruk or a kuteta was, but Law sounded worried about it. And although Luffy always wanted his lovely human to have everything to go his way, he sometimes thought that a confused Law was very cute. He also found he loved listening to Law’s continuously talking voice.

 

“Tell me about it when you get back?” Luffy smiled.

 

“Whatever.” Law sighed. There was a loud sound of chattering girls that came and went, almost drowning out Law’s next words, “Don’t cause any problems at The Spirale or else I will clobber you or die trying.”

 

“Don’t die.” The demon chuckled, curling on the couch because he had this sheer need to feel tinier. He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure, I’ll go hungry.”

 

“Fuck you.” 

 

_ Well, that could be arranged. _

 

“Now or when you get back?”

 

“What?” There was that confused tone again that made Luffy chuckle again. He liked that. He liked that very much. Law grunted, finally getting it, “Stupid! That’s not—Urgh. I really have to go now.”

 

“Okay.” Luffy hummed, imagining Law’s blushing face, “Call again later.”

 

There was a click and the sound of an opening door. 

 

“Later? I’m not sure if I can—Doctor Hiluluk, what the actual fuck!?”

 

The way Law’s voice burst into a surprised, angry blast was a bit concerning to Luffy especially with the sound of the door slamming closed. Maybe he should go over to the university just to see how everything was?

 

“Law? Muffin, are you okay?”

  
There was a faint sound of an older man talking.

 

“What did you fucking—!” Law sounded like he was about to pull his hair or hit something and Luffy was highly considering bolting out of The Spirale to see what the fuck was actually bothering his beloved host, “Luffy, I—” Law’s voice became distant again, but he seemed to be in a quieter environment now since the other voices in the background were gone and Luffy could still hear his human talking if he listened properly.

 

What was going on?  _ What _ ? Did Law need help? Should Luffy go there now? Should he? Which direction was Law’s university again?

 

“Who are you talking to?” Said an old man’s voice.

 

“It’s none of your business!” Law seemed to be moving around. There were sounds of paper and of clinking glass and metal.

 

“So  _ harsh _ !” The doctor’s voice seemed to be drawing nearer and Luffy pressed his ear harder against the phone,”I’m the doctor of this infirmary.”

 

“Don’t expect that to mean anything after I come back to a medical cabinet with a fuckton of  _ leaves _ !” Law’s voice was distant but absolutely  _ furious _ , “What the fuck did you do!?  _ What fruit is this _ !? Where are the—What happened to the bandages!?” His human released a prolonged, aggravated sound before taking a deep breath and talking again, “I was gone for  _ one day _ , Doc. One. Fucking. Day. I just—Okay, look, just sit down over there and...” Law’s voice was clear again, “Luffy? Luffy? Are you there?”

 

“Leaves?” Luffy blinked, wondering if there was any chance that Law would be attacked by an overgrown asparagus. See? This was why Luffy should always be by Law’s side.

 

“Yes, leaves. God, he could’ve at least sorted these things. I’m going to—I really need to put this phone down now, Luffy.”

 

“Who’s Luffy?” That was the jolly old man again, his voice coming even more closer, “Do you have a girlfriend now? Is she cute?” And then the voice was almost as loud and clear as Law’s, “Hello, Luffy!!”

 

The little demon was taken aback for a bit but chuckled nonetheless. Whoever was with Law sounded like he was a very funny man.

 

“Stop trying to talk to my boyfriend and sit the fuck down! Luffy, are you still—”

 

“I’m here.” Luffy was grinning widely as his hand touched his chest. He was referred to as “my boyfriend”. That made him feel very, very warm. 

 

“I have to go. Don’t do stupid—What are you stuffing in my pocket!?” Law sounded like he had jumped a good distance. Luffy could hear things falling on the floor. 

 

“It’s for protection and for enhancement.” The old man who called himself doctor sounded so sure. He also sounded like he was laughing?

 

“What the fu—Don’t tell me how I’m supposed to fuck my boyfriend! Get that shitty condom away from me!”

 

Luffy fidgeted, scuttering on his knees towards the end of the couch so he could curl against the armrest. He didn’t know why he felt it necessary to do that. It’s just that he felt like he was going to explode from something. He bit on the couch, wanting to scream, to laugh, to giggle, to cough up rainbows and stars and fluff and colors.

 

“I made this myself!” The old man sounded aggravated.

 

“That’s what I’m afraid of!” Law’s voice was breathy like he was moving really quick again.

 

“What’s a gondom?” Luffy chirped.

 

“What? Nothing.Don’t think about it.” Law took another deep breath. The old man’s voice was still in the room although it was too distant for Luffy to hear whatever he was saying. Law, on the other hand, was still mumbling like he was talking to himself, “Fucking  _ leaves _ . Fucking  _ vines _ . And  _ roots _ . And.. What  _ are _ these?! They’re not even in jars! Oh my god. I came back to chaos.” Luffy’s human groaned frustratedly and Luffy really wanted to hug him right now as he spoke, “I really have to go now.”

 

“Promise to tell me about it when you come get me?” Luffy bit his thumb thoughtfully, wondering how many more hours he should wait before he saw Law again. He was starting to miss his human—his visage, his scent, his warmth.

 

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Fucking hell.  _ Fucking hell _ .”

 

Law sounded like he was really busy now. And really pissed. Luffy wanted to hug him even more.

 

“Okay.” the little incubus was starting to feel a little sad, ”You have to go now?” 

 

“Yeah.” It was more of just a breath than an actual reply.

 

“Okay.” Luffy pouted, voice getting softer, “See you later.”

 

“Later. Bye.”

 

“I love you.”

  
_ Click! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d really love to hear (read?) your thoughts regarding this chapter and how it ended. Also, for clarification, Kalifa is actually twenty-five years old when she first appeared in the Water 7 arc in One Piece.


	9. Heart Seed

Maybe that phone call wasn’t the best idea. The goal was to test the phone and check on Luffy if he was alive and not making a mess out of The Spirale. While Law did successfully accomplish both things, he also had an unexpected dilemma.

 

_ I love you. _

 

“Ow!” It felt like life itself was knocking him back to reality when he hit his head on the open cabinet door as he was trying to stand up from squatting to check on the items in the shelves below. 

 

“Clum-sy people in lohohohove.” Dr. Hiluluk hummed loudly from his table where he was writing something.

 

“Stupid people bringing in the whole of mother nature without any organization in mind.” Law shot back full of hatred and spite although not personally. He wanted to comment on the doctor’s weird grey hair that stuck out on top of his head and from the sides like some sort of cross, but didn’t. The disarray of the infirmary just aggravated Law to no end. What kind of doctor would think it would be a good idea to bring in the god damn colors of the fucking wind in all its unorganized glory? There were different leaves mostly in folded paper— _ folded paper _ , not even paper bags—and roots and stems and vines and seeds and other sappy shit in flimsy boxes and thin plastic. And they were  _ all over the infirmary _ . Did contamination ring no bells?!

 

“Hey, leaves and other things make good medicine!” Hiluluk noted, walking towards one of the cabinets as Law carefully pulled out a good length of straw string before grabbing several dried brown stems nearby. He frowned at it for a bit, not recognizing the kind of tree it came from before carefully inspecting it, feeling the roughness of the bark against his gloved hands.

 

“I have no problem with  _ leaves _ .” Law said, placing the bundle over the straw string on the table he was working on, “I even have no problem with  _ rocks _ if they can be used to cure people.” Law grumbled as he tied them together carefully, “What I have a problem with is…” He tightly pulled on the straw string, “When doctors don’t organize their shit.”

 

“So it’s a little teensy bit messy…” the old doctor shrugged, his head poking into the open cabinet, “Not everyone can be as OC as you.”

 

“This is  _ not _ little teensy bit messy at all!” Law grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the straw string with more force than required to make a crisp and audible snapping sound. “And you don’t need OCD to know you need to  _ organize medical things _ .” Law put the stick bundle on one side before turning to Hiluluk, “Now what do you call th—Hooooold it!” Law moved to grab the doctor by the shoulder and take the mortar and pestle from his hands, “What are you going to use this for?”

 

“It’s a mortar and pestle.” Hiluluk looked flatly at him, “What do you think?”

 

“I think you should  _ sit down… _ ” Law moved the ceramic equipment away from the doctor’s reaching hands, “...And let me fix things first before you do anything.”

 

“I need to make  _ medicine _ , Law.”

 

“And you will. Once we finish cataloging these things.” Law pointed to the bundle of sticks he had just tied together on the table, “Now what are those called and what are they for?”

 

“Oh, well, those are…” the old doctor paused, raised an eyebrow, pursed his lips, and crumpled his nose, but wasn’t able to finish his sentence. His eyes slowly looked at Law who was already half-glaring at him.

 

“If you can’t tell from this distance, you can look at it closely.” Law handed the man a pen and piece of paper, “Write it down in all capital letters so it’s readable.”

 

Hiluluk shrugged but took the pen and paper anyway before walking towards the bundle for further inspection. Law sighed as he watched the old doctor walk over the piles of leaves and stems on the floor. Sometimes he wondered how this infirmary would’ve continued operating without him. The student assistant grumbled to himself until his attention was caught by a small, brown paper bag labeled as “Heart Seeds”. 

 

Law raised an eyebrow. What a peculiar name. He’d been with the doctor long enough to know most of the herbs, stems, and seeds he’s brought in, but every now and then, he’d bring in something new like those stems and these… heart seeds. Law’s tattooed hand reached for it with ease before carefully opening the bag containing a combination of tiny green and black seeds, all of which were perfectly round and had a prominent white heart-like marking. 

 

“I see you’re interested in heart seeds.” Hiluluk’s voice made Law lift his head to see the man capping the pen he had given him. The label he had asked him to write was already stuck in the bundle he head tied together. Law made a mental note to check on it later so he could do some research.

 

“These are cardiospermum.” Law said as a matter of fact-ly, placing a few seeds in his palm for closer inspection.

 

“Well, you could call it that, too. Cardiospermum, heart seeds, heart vines, heart pea, love-in-a-puff...” Hiluluk chuckled, taking a single seed between his fingers and showing Law the white heart-shaped aril, “They’re for curing pains caused by heartaches.”

 

The doctor wiggled his eyebrows at the student.

 

“They’re for  _ arthritis. _ ” Law stressed as he put the seeds back in the paper bag before stepping over the leaves on the floor so he could find jars and a dish. It was going to be tedious sorting out the green from the black seeds. 

 

“Yeah, well, that, too. If you use the leaves.”

 

He made it sound like  _ that _ was the secondary use for the plant. This doctor had priorities stacked wrong. 

 

Law was never a fan of placebo or making people think they were being cured by something that didn’t do anything. It was like deceiving the patient into thinking that some sort of treatment was being applied in order to trigger the mind-over-matter kind of healing and whatnot. If a person could heal themselves like that, why would there even be any need for physicians? They came for treatment because they’re worried, pained, suffering, or dying. At least give them something real in return.

 

“You’re a doctor.” Law said thoughtfully, placing the jars and dishes on a table nearby as the old man approached with the bag of seeds, “Why would you rely on placebo?”

 

“You see, Law,” Hiluluk’s voice had an interesting contrast with the grainy sound of the seeds being poured onto the stainless steel basin, “Sometimes a doctor must help people with pains that have no cause or cure, pains that feel like they’re lethal when they’re not without making them believe that what they’re feeling is silly or wrong.”

 

Well, heartaches and love pains weren’t really diseases, but it was true that they had physical manifestations like headaches, lack of appetite, drowsiness, fatigue, and body pain among other things. But still, there were better scientifically tested and proven ways to approach these things instead of tricking a person’s mind with medicine that did nothing.

 

“There’s proper treatment for that kind of stress.” The young medical student pulled a chair out for the old doctor to sit before getting a chair for himself.

 

The doctor laughed.

 

“You’re such a smart kid. But you know…” Hiluluk took a handful of seeds, still laughing to himself as he started sorting them between the two empty jars, “Sometimes, the best prescription isn’t what’s logical or real.”

 

What were they studying medicine for then?

 

Law just hummed in response, reflecting on the words and having a short debate with himself about what it meant to be a doctor—if he really had it in him to be one—as he sat down on the chair he had pulled out. The sound of the seeds hitting the glass was distinctly soothing, he thought, although that would be gone once the jar started filling up with seeds. The refreshing feeling of the pea-like kernels spilling in between his fingers as he took a handful somehow reminded him of Luffy and the white heart-shaped aril on the seeds made him wonder if he should call again.

 

Law dropped a single seed into one of the two still fairly empty jars, enjoying the nice ring it made as it echoed within the glass.

 

_ I love you _ .

 

No. That was a mistake. He was tired and was just hearing things wrong. Law had a lot to do. There was no time for him to be distracted by things like love. 

 

Besides, demons knew no “love”.

  
  


* * *

 

 

Luffy wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but they said love made fools out of people. If so, either Luffy was in love or genuinely stupid. Zoro often said he was stupid, but Luffy still thought it was debatable. Zoro was stupid himself. He had no business judging other people like that. So yeah, Luffy was most probably more in love with his human than he thought. He was so fucking in love, he was probably going to die for it. By Nami’s hand. For escaping so he could go to Law’s university. Oh, the  _ things _ love made its victims do.  

 

That phone call from Law was somehow the sweetest thing Luffy had experienced in his entire existence. Its ending, on the other hand, was also one of the most stressful and confusing. He was so swept by all the tingly sensations that he just told Law he loved him without checking with his own brain if it was a good idea to say that straight up. Humans were a little bit… skeptical… when it came to those three words. But it felt like the right thing to say at the moment. So why not? And what did he get in response? A  _ click _ . What in the fucking hell did  _ that _ mean? 

 

Luffy tried borrowing Sanji’s phone to call Law if that were possible, but everyone was busy and Zoro was going “Stop bothering my human!” Geez. Luffy just wanted the phone, dammit. Okay, so maybe he needed Sanji’s help to operate that thing but did Zoro really have to be so fucking  _ edgy _ ?!

 

It was the promise of good food that allowed Luffy to hold out until lunch. Sanji’s cooking was a masterpiece so amazing, it was worth suffering for. But what followed lunch was second after second of torturous hell. Luffy was immediately reminded why Law was always, always,  _ always _ , and forever will be his priority. All he could stand was an hour of staying put while debating the meaning of clicks while listening to the yapping television without understanding what the hell was on that screen. An  _ hour _ of that. Luffy deserved a damn  _ award _ (or a blow job, ideally) from Law for managing to stay sane and behaved for that fucking long, god damn it. He tried, really, but an hour was the most he could manage.  _ An hour. _

 

And that was how and why he was now slipping out of The Spirale via the back door as soon as Nami dozed off. She was probably going to be as furious as a volcano when he got back, but he’d have a better chance of surviving  _ that _ than not seeing Law for the rest of the day. 

 

The blast of sunlight against his face made him blink, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Luffy looked up with closed eyes for a bit, enjoying the warmth against his skin. Sunlight in the morning felt friendlier than the sun at noon, it seemed. Daytime was an interesting thing. It was entirely different from the night even with its moon and stars. 

 

Luffy shook his head. He could appreciate night and day contrast some other time.

 

The daywalking demon looked around, unsure which way he should take before sighing heavily. Humans and their streets and tall buildings made navigating around their city a bit difficult from the ground. Good thing Luffy had better options. Scanning his environment one last time, Luffy stepped back a bit before effortlessly scaling the wall in one go. In the blink of an eye, he was already clinging onto the wire fence of the rooftop of the building next to Sanji’s cafe.

 

See? Now wasn’t this better?

 

Everything was easily visible from up here. The sun was way, way brighter and the air was much, much nicer. Even the sky felt like it was within his reach although it wasn’t. Beautiful. He should show this to his human sometime. 

 

Now which way was it again to Law’s university?

 

* * *

 

“You brought lunch.” Bonney sounded like she was watching a monkey breathe fire. Law didn’t even budge from staring at his packed meal in one of the humming microwaves on one side of the cafeteria. She had a large bottled drink in one hand and an even larger burger in the other. Normal people might consider a burger of that size as lunch itself, but it was only part of Bonney’s lunch meal. The large plastic bag with more food that hung from her arm spoke much about her appetite. Law had given up figuring out where Bonney stored every morsel of food she consumed or what activity she did that burned down all of it.

 

“Trafalgar Law.” she looked up at him almost disbelievingly, “You brought—”

 

“ _ Yes _ , I brought lunch, Bonney. This is not worth making a headline of.” Law uncrossed his arms as the microwave’s lights died out with a “ding!”. He promised himself he was going to do his best to stick to the menu Sanji had drafted for him. This morning, they had cereal with fruits. It was very annoying how Luffy wanted them to eat in just one bowl like that was going to help the food become healthier. Now he was having stir-fried beef and broccoli because he thought that was a good idea. Except maybe he should have considered what that’s going to end up tasting like after microwaving it.

 

Bonney shrugged at him, her cheeks full as she chewed noisily. It was only their friendship that was stopping Law from slapping her puffed face. He did grimace, however. Their friendship allowed at least that.

 

“Well, what’s—” she began, but was cut off by a very generic beeping ringtone. The man frowned as he pulled out his phone from his shirt’s front pocket to check if he could maybe ignore this call, but then he saw who was calling and he froze.

 

Sanji.

 

_ Luffy. _

 

There was a quick mental image of Luffy falling off a roof that made Law bring the phone to his ear at the same time he pressed the answer button and said, “Hello?”

 

“Hello, Law?” Sanji’s voice. Law tried to listen for Luffy in the background, but heard none. He must be somewhere else. Sanji must have gone out so he could call Law in peace, without being bothered by an overeager incubus.

 

“Going to get to the point.” Sanji’s sentence ended in a sigh.

 

_ Say Luffy’s there and just did something stupid. Say the little fucker’s there. _

 

“Luffy’s gone.”

 

“ _ Gone _ !?” Law exclaimed loud enough to startle Bonney and several people in the hall. He mouthed “sorry” to no one in particular before turning his attention back to Sanji, “I mean… I mean, sorry. Sorry, didn’t mean to—”

 

“It’s okay.” Sanji didn’t sound offended. Law hoped he really wasn’t.

 

“What’s wrong?” Bonney whispered but Law held up a finger to silence her. The girl looked confused for a while, but said nothing. Law wasn’t sure how to have this phone conversation with Sanji without Luffy’s name or the word “demon” slipping out of his mouth while he was with Bonney.

 

“I… What happened? I mean...” Law rubbed his forehead as he looked around, glancing at the windows just to check if Luffy was or was not peeking or crawling in from there. Where the hell was he? Stupid fucking demon. 

 

“Um. I’m sorry. Nami fell asleep and…”

 

“No, no, no, it’s not any of you guys’ fault.” Law was waving his hand like Sanji was in front of him, which was silly because he wasn’t, “Luf—” Law closed his mouth immediately and looked at Bonney to see if she heard but she was too busy getting Law’s lunch out of the microwave oven for him. Thankfully. “It was too much trouble already to leave hi—to have asked that favor.  _ I’m _ sorry.”

 

“Yeah, well, we said yes to your request so…”

 

“No, it’s…” Law kept on looking around, “It’s fine.” 

 

It wasn’t fine, really. Having a missing, unsupervised incubus wasn’t  _ fine _ , but he wasn’t about to let Sanji think it was any of their fault that Luffy was, well,  _ being Luffy _ . Who knew what shenanigans that little incubus had already gotten himself into? Law tried to gauge how learned Luffy was when it came to human culture, but all he could see was Luffy falling off what seemed to be a railing or a roof. Fucking hell. Why did he keep on seeing that!?

 

“Please tell Nami it’s fine and I’m sorry for troubling you with…” Law stopped before he could say “my demon”, “But, yeah, it’s fine. Please don’t worry.”

 

“I want to say we’re going to help you look for him but…” Sanji sounded like he was moving the phone from one ear to the other.

 

“No, I can’t possibly ask that of you.” Law mumbled, watching Bonney put his lunch and her plastic bag of food on a tray, “You’re busy with the cafe. And this is my responsibility.”

 

“Well, knowing Luffy,” It sounded like there was something between Sanji’s lips. Law wasn’t sure at first until he heard the flicking of a lighter, “He’s probably on his way to see you.”

 

Law could not refute how true that could be. It was most likely that Luffy was now on his way to Corrida University and possibly leaving a trail of troubles in the wake of his journey. Did he even know where this university was? What were the chances of Luffy getting arrested and attacking the police in some twisted form of self defense? Good god, no. Law was  _ not  _ going to live his life as a fugitive with his demon. It was like a horrible way of being forced to run away with a lover that you were also being forced to marry.

 

“The destination isn’t the problem, I guess.” Law put a hand on his waist as he looked thoughtfully at the floor, “It’s  _ the journey. _ ”

 

Sanji groaned from the other line followed by the sound of him taking a drag from his cigarette. Bonney waved a hand over Law’s face to get his attention before nodding towards the door.  Law nodded back, making the girl turn around and started out of the cafeteria so they could head back to the grounds where Penguin and Shachi were waiting. Why couldn’t they have eaten in the cafeteria instead?  _ Why _ !?

 

“Law, I want you to know that I  _ absolutely _ understand what you mean.” 

 

The cafe owner sounded so sincere and Law could relate so hard that he couldn’t hold back a chuckle. 

 

“I know, right?”

  
Bonney was trying to push one of the large doors open with her shoulder with no success. Law tapped her arm for her to make way before pushing the door open for her instead. His female friend nodded at him, making a face as if saying “good job”. Law rolled his eyes in response and nodded for her to start walking. Who the fucked closed these doors anyway?

 

“We should definitely talk about this sometime.” Sanji took another drag from his cigarette, “You know, just us  _ humans _ .”

 

It was funny how Sanji stressed the last word. And it was interesting how Law knew what it meant. Wow, an internal joke just happened. Being friends with the blonde man seemed like a nice thing, Law thought as he pushed the double doors so they were always open.

 

“ _ Definitely _ .” Law huffed, watching a group of five students enter the cafeteria just as he was walking out of the hall and into the open corridor.

 

“Okay, so for the meantime, keep your eyes peeled.” Sanji was saying now, “I’ll call or text you if anything comes up.”

 

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Law moved the phone to his other ear, preparing to end the call, “Will contact you if anything comes up on my end as well.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Okay, thanks.”

 

Law slid the phone back inside his front pocket and sighed heavily.

  
“Was that someone from The Spirale?” Bonney looked back at him as she kept on walking.

 

“Yeah.” he nodded, rubbing his temple. Should he leave the university earlier today and start looking for his demon? Could Luffy track him? He  _ did _ stalk Law back then, but was that because he could smell him out or or because he just followed closely? Did contracts make it easier for host and demon to find each other? It annoyed Law how he knew little to nothing about demons and this contract. So now Luffy was on his way here and Law could do nothing but wait like an idiot. 

 

The image of his little incubus falling from a roof was distracting as fuck, though. Was that a vision? He sincerely hoped not. He had no idea how to treat demons. Did they bleed the same way? Could they be stitched the same way? Did they respond to medicine the same way? Did they have allergies? Oh, god, what if Luffy died of allergies one day because Law administered the wrong drug? Fucking hell. Maybe he should’ve asked to talk to Nami or Zoro so he could’ve had these questions answered. Should he text Sanji? Did he have similar experiences? Law was just about to reach for his phone just as they were about to make a turn when a high-pitched gasp caught his attention enough to make him flinch.

 

“Traaaaaaaa-falgar Law!” 

 

It sounded like the woman Law was trying to stay away from. Please, no.

 

Bonney had stopped walking almost instantly. Her mouth flew open as what was supposed to be a scream died down to a twisted whine at the same time she looked nervously at Law. 

 

“Mrs. Giolla.” Law said flatly.

 

“Trafalgar Law!” She repeated and Law hated the way she said every syllable of his full name. Why did she have to do that? Why did they have to run into her  _ now _ !? He had Luffy to worry about! He had no time for this! Law’s aggravation just heightened as the SA advisor adjusted her glasses before pointing at him, “Are those tattoos on your fingers!?”

 

Law bit his lip to keep himself from cursing.

 

The Fates hated him.

 

This was  _ not _ his day.

 

* * *

 

“What are you staring at!?” Luffy yelled aggravatedly from an alley and waving his fist upward, “You wanna go, motherfucker!?”

 

On the railing of a fire exit stairs, a pigeon looked down on him. Pigeons, Luffy quickly decided, were one of the worst things that could ruin even a day with beautiful sunlight. Sure, they seemed harmless, but for some reason, these feathery fucktards were just  _ mocking _ Luffy. Yeah, that’s right. Pigeons were  _ mocking _ him. How many pigeons had he already passed by today, perched somewhere, making weird fucking noises while tilting its head like it fucking knew shit? It was like one pigeon told the other pigeon that Luffy was a halfwit who couldn’t find his human and now all of them were poking fun at him. Maybe these idiots saw Zoro get lost and thought all incubi were the same. Zoro was the shame of his race.

 

Luffy glared at the bird. The feathered fucker just tilted its head and  _ cooed _ . 

 

“Why you—!” Luffy took two steps back before he was suddenly shooting up four floors high and squatting on the railing of the fire exit stairs in one quick flash, prompting the bird to fly away in a hurry.

 

“Yeah, fly away, asshole!!” Luffy yelled after it, shaking his fist for extra warning points, “Don’t you ever show your feathery face in front of me ever the fuck again you—!”

 

“What the fucking hell!?” 

 

A male voice practically blasted Luffy in the face to make him look down. A fierce-looking man with red spiky hair pushed up by square goggles was sitting on the metal landing and leaning on the wall next to a door. He had really weird fake-looking rings under his eyes and what was with the fricken golden bangles? With spikes? Really? And his lips were… black? Purple?  _ Bruised _ ?

 

“You look weird.” Luffy frowned at him.

 

“You were yelling at a  _ bird _ .” The man frowned back. That made his nose wrinkle weirdly and Luffy wanted to straighten it with his palm because it was annoying.

 

“Yeah. It got the hint.” Luffy nodded and looked around, “Where the fuck am I…?”

 

“How’d you even get there so suddenly?”

 

“I jumped.” Luffy shrugged, looking around while still perched on the railing.

 

The man pushed himself off the wall and looked disbelievingly at Luffy, “We’re on the  _ fourth floor _ .”

 

“Yeah, whatever.” Luffy waved him off because he was stating the obvious and no one was asking. Luffy yelled at a pigeon. They were on the fourth floor. Did he have to say it out loud like Luffy didn’t know? Ah, but since they were talking already, maybe he should ask for directions.

 

“Which way to the university?”

 

“What?” The stranger blinked as he continued to sit on the metal floor. Oh dear god, Luffy just  _ had _ to find an idiot  _ now _ of all times.

 

“Which way to the university?” Luffy repeated, the annoyance all too apparent in his voice. If he had to repeat himself another time, he was going to just dash the fuck out of this alley.

 

“Corrida University?” The scarlet-haired man tilted his head.

 

“Who?” Luffy furrowed his eyebrows. Who the fuck was Korina? Was that his name? It was a weird name that Luffy didn’t ask to know. Who the fuck cared? “Listen, I’m looking for  _ Law’s _ university.”

 

“Law? Like major in Law? They do have—”

 

“Majorine??” If Luffy could take the question marks that seemed to be popping out of his head and use it to hit this stupid human, he  _ would _ . Without question. Why was he bringing up people that Luffy didn’t care about? Who the hell was Majorine Law? “No, no!” Luffy scratched his head heavily, “It’s Trafalgar. Traaaafalgar Law.”

 

“Traf—hold on, hold on.” The man stood up and Luffy followed him with his eyes. He looked much bigger than Luffy thought he was when he was sitting. Nothing Luffy couldn’t handle, though. 

 

“What are you doing in an alley if you want to get to the university? Take a god damn  _ bus. _ Or a taxi.”

 

“What do you mean?” Luffy cocked his head, imitating the pigeon he saw earlier so this human would get that he was mocking him. God, he missed Law even more. His human was much, much smarter and even when he was silly, he was still cute as fuck.

 

“Are you  _ for real _ ?” The stupid stranger’s eyes widened and started pointing towards the other end of the alley they were in, “Get out in the street, call a cab, and then tell the driver to drop you off at Corrida University!”

 

“Which cab?” Luffy cocked his head to the other side. Hopefully this idiot realized he was not making sense. 

 

“ _ Any _ taxi cab!” The red-haired human yelled at him and, wow,  _ he _ had the guts to be aggravated? It wasn’t like Luffy asked to talk to him to begin with. He was actually after the pigeon until this guy started questioning him. Talk about rude. This guy did not deserve to get laid.  _ Ever _ .

 

“Do all taxi cab divers know where it is? What if they ask me where it is?”

 

“They’re supposed to know where Corrida University is! It’s the only university in Dressrosa!” The red-haired man sighed, rubbing his forehead. Now Luffy didn’t like thinking either because it made his head hurt, but if he were to be honest, this human had done so little thinking. And yet that was weighing so much on him? Damn, Luffy really had the best human ever. Like no offense to all the other mortals, but Law was so much hotter and smarter than the average human. And he had a nice ass, too. Seriously.

 

“I mean, dude,” The large man  _ still _ hadn’t stopped talking, “I just moved here and even  _ I _ know where it is!” 

 

Yeah, as if Luffy asked. He frowned, not at all appreciating how this failure of a human interrupted his thoughts about Law’s ass (which he missed, too, because he couldn’t say it enough).

 

“Well, I don’t usually walk around this low and slow, you know.” Luffy pouted, breathing heavily out of his nose, “The only reason I’m not using the roofs is because I keep on running into people. Such a fucking hassle.”

 

“Haaaah?”

 

Apparently, something was difficult to understand about what Luffy said again because the human decided to spend a few good seconds gaping before he was able to open his mouth and say something.

 

“And you say  _ I’m _ weird?”

 

The little incubus rolled his eyes away. He couldn’t decide which was worse—this red-haired dude or pigeons.

 

“Well, whatever! I’m going now!” Luffy stood up on the railing, putting his hands in his pockets as he looked left and right, estimating which way was closer to the main road.

 

“Wait, a sec.” The man said gruffly with a wave of his hand, “What did you say is his name was again?”   
  


“Who?” Luffy looked up. Could he really not use the roofs? It was much easier and a lot closer to the amazing rays of the sun, too.

 

“Your friend.” The human said flatly.

 

“My friend?”

 

Zoro? Nami? Sanji? He didn’t remember mentioning any of them.

 

“Was it Trafalgar?”

 

Luffy’s ears perked and that made him look down at the larger man below him. Why was he asking?

 

“My  _ boyfriend _ .” His eyes narrowed because he had to be acknowledged as such. That was just in case this human had any ideas of chasing after  _ Luffy’s _ Trafalgar Law, “Why’re you asking?”

 

“I’m enrolling next semester.” The man shrugged, his large shoulders barely moving, “Is he a professor over there or...?”

 

“You didn’t even give me  _ your _ name.” Luffy’s eyes were still narrowed towards him.

 

“Eustass Kid.” He said easily with another easy shrug, “You?”

 

“Your name is weird.” Luffy grimaced, but thought it would be appropriate if he was named Eustass Kid-geon.

 

“Well, fuck you.” Kid-geon lifted a middle finger at Luffy, “Let’s hear  _ your _ name then.” 

 

“Yeah, fuck you, too, and you don’t need to know, fucking human bird brain.” Luffy flipped an offensive finger right back at him and shoved it in his face, threatening to stick it up his protruding nose but that was gross, so, no.

 

“Why you—!” Kid motioned to grab him, but Luffy effortlessly made a backflip before diving down head first towards the first floor. Kid’s eyes widened in surprise before he chased after Luffy, leaning forward against the railing and reaching quickly, but caught nothing but air. He looked down. He looked around.

 

The boy was gone.   
  


* * *

 

 

Just before Luffy had picked a fight with pigeons, somewhere across Corrida University, Bonney was marching over from the spot where they had bumped into Mrs. Giolla to where they were supposed to have lunch. Penguin and Shachi who were eagerly waiting were pretty much both scared and surprised to find their pinked-haired older sister-ish friend breathing furiously like a bull, returning with Law’s lunch but without Law in tow.

 

“So she took him to her office?” Penguin asked in between mouthfuls of his vegetable and egg fried rice in a box, “Like she didn’t even let him have lunch?”

 

“Exactly! Kalifa is so fucking  _ useless _ !” It took Bonney two large bites to eat off three-fourths of her jumbo hotdog sandwich. She looked like she was just about to flip the robust tree they were under as she spoke with her mouth full, “Didn’t even figure out a way to help us keep out of Mrs. Giolla’s immediate vicinity! Urgh, that bitch!”

 

“To be fair, that wasn’t part of the deal you had with her.” Shachi shrugged, taking two consecutive bites out of the burger he was holding. Bonney responded by stuffing the rest of her hotdog sandwich in her mouth before quickly washing it down with bottled apple juice and then yelling, “I don’t give a  _ fuck _ !”

 

Penguin sighed. Although he thought Bonney was overreacting, he kind of understood why she was aggravated. Law needed this job for financial and pride reasons, if there was such a thing as the latter. It wasn’t like he had parents anymore and he really didn’t want to totally depend on his uncles’ financial support. Being an SA allowed him to enjoy a scholarship with a monthly stipend even if he only had around two subjects enrolled. This was as long as he kept it above a grade requirement. And since Law was raised by his strict as hell uncle to be so fucking  _ smart _ —it was an instilled  _ value _ in their family, he said—and advanced, his grades weren’t even a problem in the slightest. 

 

It was at this point that a familiar young fellow standing in front of a yellow cab in front of the university gates caught Penguin’s eye.

 

“Wait a second,” Penguin elbowed Shachi and nodded towards the arched entrance, “Is that Luffy?”

 

Shachi choked on the last of his burger and hurriedly grabbed his bottled water.

 

“Who?” Bonney frowned.

 

“Luffy.” Penguin impatiently pointed with a finger towards the gate as Shachi started beating on his chest, “Law’s boyfriend.”

 

Bonney turned her head and true enough, there was a young man whose back pretty much resembled whatever she recalled of the pictures Penguin had sent her. He was bending over the car window and looked like he was arguing with the driver. Was he supposed to meet up with Law today? Was there an emergency?

 

“Well, I wasn’t informed that I had to pay for this!” Luffy stomped his foot and was highly considering lifting the cab and throwing it towards the direction of the stupid pigeon human that told him to get a ride in the first place. Why did everything cost money in this shitty world?! Weren’t favors a thing anymore? What about charity? Or kind-heartedness? He just wanted to see Law! Why was the rest of the world so fucking unforgiving!? He didn’t have time for this! This just made him miss his human so much more that he just might tackle him with a kiss on first sight.

 

“Luffy!” 

 

“What  _ the fuck _ do  _ you  _ want!?” The incubus almost bared his fangs as he whipped around towards the voice who was calling him only see a very startled human. Wait, he looked familiar. Who was this again? Luffy was too pissed to figure it out. He looked confusedly at the man, trying to match the face to a name and almost failing had it not been for the large letters on his hat.

 

“Oh. Pen-guy!” Luffy smiled. It’s good he met one of Law’s friends. Hopefully, they could help him find Law. 

 

“It’s Penguin.” He said flatly. Luffy pursed his lips. Wasn’t that what he said?

 

“Are you people friends with this punk?!” The cab driver yelled from inside his vehicle, effectively ending what could’ve been Luffy’s internalization about Penguin’s name.

 

“Um…” an approaching pink-haired girl who was chowing on fries had also effectively managed to distract Luffy’s stomach for a bit until she asked, “What seems to be the problem?”

 

“This kid here—”

 

“Hey.” Luffy turned around, heavily slamming his hand on the roof of the car as he bent to peek into the vehicle via the passenger window, “Listen, man. I’ve been trying to negotiate with you, but my human  _ likes _ these humans. And if you fucking upset them, it upsets him. And if it upsets him, it upsets  _ me _ .”

 

“Well, what about you not paying upsetting me?!” The man pointed to himself with his thumb, which somehow felt a bit too condescending for Luffy’s taste.

 

“I don’t know.” Luffy widened his eyes as he leaned further forward, his fangs protruding with a threatening hiss in between, “ _ Take a giant fucking hint _ .”

 

And that seemed to work. The large man in the car backed so far away, Luffy thought he was going to jump out of the driver’s side window. Half-groaning and half-yelling in sudden fear and confusion, the man clumsily tried to grab the steering wheel in front of him while frantically stomped on the car floor below him before he managed to find the right pedal to send his vehicle racing forward against the wind in a hurry.

 

“Uh. What just happened?” Penguin asked as he watched the vehicle speeding away in a weird, panicked zigzag with a cloud of dirt on his trail.

 

“Nothing. He was just asking for payment I didn’t know I had to give.” Luffy straightened, “Urgh, that stupid fucking Used Ass Kid didn’t tell me!”

 

“I think he scared the driver.” Bonney murmured to Shachi in between munches, “Is that why Law likes him?”

 

“So where’s Law?” Luffy fully turned to face his human’s human friends. Wow, they all looked so…  _ human _ . “I just decided to come here and see him.”

 

“Oh, like a surprise?” Bonney chirped as she stepped forward and in between Penguin and Shachi, “That’s really sweet. That would help uplift his mood.” The pink-haired extended her hand to offer him a new bag of flavored fries, “I’m Bonney, by the way. Law’s friend. Like his older sister.”

 

Penguin held back from saying Law was older than her.

 

Luffy only took a second to look at the fries before taking it and saying, “Luffy. Pleased to meet you.”

 

Penguin and Shachi looked at each other. Did Bonney just offer Luffy food instead of a handshake? And did that just work out?

 

“Oh my god, these are good. I needed this.” Luffy said after his first mouthful of fries, “Also… Uplift? Why? Is my beloved human feeling down?”

 

“Well,” Bonney shrugged as she dug inside her plastic bag and pulled out a pack of banana chips,  “He got in trouble for his tattoos…”

 

“Trouble?” Luffy stopped chewing immediately, “What kind of trouble?”

 

“Mrs. Giolla is very strict when it comes to stuff like tattoos.” Bonney said as she opened her banana chips pack, “Actually, she didn’t like piercings, too, but Law already had them before she replaced the previous advisor. So Law has to—Wait.  _ Kalifa! _ ”

 

Bonney’s sudden outburst made Luffy jump a bit. The pink-haired girl was then marching with fury towards the blonde secretary who seemed to have just gotten back from having her lunch. Kalifa stopped walking and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Bonney to approach.

 

“Woman, my baby brother could very much be in deep shit right now!”

 

“Baby bro—” Kalifa adjusted her glasses to look at Penguin and Shachi, “You mean Law?” The blonde tilted her head as she crossed her arms, “How is he your baby brother? He’s older than you.”

 

“Are you asking to be chokeslammed into the concrete!?” Bonney rolled up her sleeves.

 

“Ohhh, dear. Ohhhh, fricken dear.” Shachi fiddled with his fingers as he elbowed Penguin, “Do something, Pen.”

 

“What?!” Penguin looked at Shachi like he was being asked to jump into a fiery lava pit, “I’m not going to get in between  _ that _ !” 

 

One of Bonney’s sleeves was rolled up way past her elbow while she angrily growled and waved her arms at Kalifa who was standing there with her head held high and an eyebrow raised. Whatever they were arguing about now, Penguin was not sure he’d like to know. Seriously, if these two girls were both concerned about Law, they should just talk for a bit so they could help him instead of trying to claw at each other’s egos. Wait. That was a good idea. Maybe Penguin could tell them that? Maybe he could… risk getting chokeslammed? No. He then turned to his Law’s boyfriend. 

 

“Luffy, do you—Luffy?”

 

But Law’s boyfriend wasn’t there.

 

* * *

 

Hungry. Awkward. Pissed. Worried. 

 

Law was not sure how to combine all these feelings in proper balance as he stood in the middle of the distortion that was Mrs. Giolla’s office. The room looked like some sort of warp zone with all the abstract paintings on the wall and the abstract sculptures on the abstract shelves. He wasn’t one to judge a person by their hobbies or art preferences, but everything looked so fucked up that he wasn’t sure if that or his current situation was what’s making him nauseous. Or maybe Law just didn’t know how to appreciate art. Or maybe he was just god damn fucking  _ hungry _ . How fucking urgent were these tattoos that he had to skip lunch!?

 

“So,” Mrs. Giolla began as she gently pushed around the weird-looking wooden figures on her table like that fixed anything. “Trafalgar Law.”

 

Oh dear god, he hated it when his name came out from her abstract mouth.

 

“I assume you know about my policies about tattoos and piercings?” 

 

“Yes, ma’m.” Law tried to speak as levelly as he could, inwardly holding a tight rein on his patience so as not to accidentally say something like, “I’m god damn  _ hungry _ .” 

 

To be honest, though, Law wasn’t usually this grumpy when he was hungry. He was used to not having lunch.

 

“So.” She said again as she looked up slowly, fingers intertwined on her desk in front of her, “Care to explain what those things on your fingers are?”

 

She pointed at his hands and Law absolutely refused to feel conscious, to hide his fingers into his long sleeves, to apologize for them, to feel inferior for having them. He didn’t want these and they didn’t mean anything wrong. So he took a deep breath to repeat the answer that he had given everyone else who had asked him over the past two days. 

 

“Tell me, are those gangster marks?” The woman asked again before Law could get a word out of his mouth. 

 

What did she call Luffy’s tattoos?

 

“You have piercings.” The SA advisor continued, holding out her palm, “You have dark circles under your eyes. You have tattoos that spell  _ DEATH _ on your fingers.”

 

Law hated how she pointed at each one with an open palm, but what he hated more was how she had referred to his tattoos as gangster marks. Like she knew shit. These weren’t  _ gangster marks _ . These were demon marks that poisoned his blood.

 

“They’re not gangster marks.” He said simply, swallowing a grunt that was threatening to escape.

 

“They look like it, though.” The woman shrugged, nodding to herself before she looked back up at Law’s face as he wondered about the exact fucking definition of the term  _ gangster mark _ , “How many do you have, Law?”

 

Should he lie? Should he tell the truth? What was the best option here? He’d rather not lie.

 

“I have several.”

 

“Several? So suddenly?” Mrs. Giolla raised an eyebrow, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, “How did you manage?” The woman leaned back against her orange distorted chair, “Was having it part of an initiation procedure?”

 

Law’s jaw tightened as he grit his teeth. No, they weren’t, so stop it. Stop talking about Luffy’s tattoos like they were a superficial thing that anyone could obtain. He literally had his life on the line before he got these, not that he did it on purpose, but it wasn’t something like a gang symbol. It was bigger than that. It had more meaning than that. It was an important part of Luffy that he had to get back, that Law had to give back. 

 

“They’re not gangster marks.” His voice was starting to come out weird and pressured. He had to breathe. Law inhaled, recalling his plan of action, his proper response, “They’re temporary.”

 

That’s right. Calm down. He just had to remember what he had planned to say. He didn’t have to get angry. He had no reason to be angry. He shouldn’t be provoked. Stay in the right pace. Stick to the story. These tattoos were—

 

“Temporary?” The way Mrs. Giolla said the word made Law suddenly become overly aware of his own breathing as she continued talking, “So does that mean you’re in probation?” 

 

Probation? Probation where?

 

“You haven’t officially joined yet?”

 

Joined? Joined what?

 

“Is this gang—”

 

_ That _ again!? Still!?

 

“I told you, they aren’t anything like gangster marks!“ Law yelled impatiently and exasperatedly before he could process a proper course of action, “They tell a god damn fucking  _ story _ !”

 

Huh?

 

His breath was heavier than he thought it was by the time he ended that sentence. Law’s own voice reverberated in his skull as the words tumbled across his brain. 

 

Uh-oh.

 

What had he done? What had he said? A story? That wasn’t what Law was supposed to say! That was  _ not _  the plan! 

 

His hands had formed tight fists that he hadn’t noticed yet as he wet his lips, searching his mind for the part that was responsible for blurting out that stupid fucking sappy excuse. The surprised look on Mrs. Giolla’s face as she leaned back on her chair made Law pull his attention back towards the matter at hand.

 

Damage control first. Damage control.

 

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to swear.” Law fought the urge to touch his hands and only then did he realize how he had clenched his fists so tightly, “They’re temporary, but…” He had to swallow hard to reorient himself, “But they  _ do  _ tell a story.” 

 

Law took another deep breath. He wasn’t lying but he had no plan for this answer that could possibly get him out of this situation and there was no way for him to take back what he said. What should he do? Should he beg for forgiveness? Should he beg for her consideration? No, that might be taken as an admission that they were gangster marks, which could possibly rid him of his SA position and scholarship if not land him an expulsion. 

 

He had to work with what he had right now.

 

Tattoos. A story. Emotion. 

 

Oh.

 

_ Art. _

 

“I thought…” Law murmured, his eyes dropping to the floor, “I thought  _ you _ of all people would understand.”

 

And then silence. Several seconds of contemplative, torturous silence. Just as Law started to lift his eyes, the woman released a prolonged sound of amusement and curiosity. 

 

“A story?” Mrs. Giolla raised an eyebrow at Law who was hoping to high heavens that his surprise and unpreparedness didn’t make it as an expression across his face. She sounded a bit confused and Law couldn’t say he wasn’t himself, but he’d decided to just deal with things as they came. The woman leaned forward again, eyes squinting at the SA in front of her, “Are you telling me that those inkings are there as an artform?”

 

Yes and it was a much better term than fucking  _ gangster marks _ . But, focus, Law, focus. What kinds of people needed to have markings that could be undeniably referred to as art? Should he say he was modelling for something? But what if she asked for proof? What if he said—

 

“What story?” 

 

Her question caught him unguarded in the middle of frantic thinking, making his answer slip out as smoothly as the truth.

 

“A demon’s.”

 

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. 

 

Law had to stop saying shit without thinking. Sure, that wasn’t a lie. Law wasn’t making it up at all but it sounded like such a ludicrous answer that Law wanted to slap himself back and forth.

 

What was he thinking? What was wrong with him? What the hell happened to his unbreakable composure and quick-witted thinking!?

 

“Interesting.” Mrs.Giolla rested her chin on her woven fingers, “Pray tell.”

 

Tell? Tell what? Oh, the story? Law took a deep breath, his mouth hanging open for a good while as he contemplated on what to say. He’d read fantasy novels in the past, but none of them were helping him come up with a believable story on the spot. God, he was going to lose this fucking scholarship. He was going to get expelled. He was going to have to rely on his unc—Wait, wait, no.  _ No. _ Think positive. He had to work with what he had. It was his only choice.

 

“It tells…” he began anxiously and carefully as he looked around for something to anchor his attention on to keep him focused, “It tells the story of an annoying demon.” 

 

Law’s lips felt dry. Mrs. Giolla nodded like a silent gesture for him to continue.

 

“Of an obstinate, ignorant, irritating, foolish, reckless, condescending demon…”

 

Law was expecting his head to pull up the image of Luffy falling off the roof again. But he was surprised when it was a vision of Luffy standing in the patch of sunlight as he laughed in Law’s small backyard that came back to him instead.

 

Law bit his lip and took another deep breath.

 

“...That has the charms of a cheerful young man…

 

He was not a writer or a story teller. This was not making sense. The only redeeming thing about all this was that he wasn’t lying. So maybe use that as momentum? What else did he know about Luffy?

 

That he used to live in the dark?

 

“...Whose life has been confined in the darkness of the night…”

 

And it should’ve stayed that way. Luffy was the only one enjoying this whole thing. To him, the human world and culture was an entirely new playground. It had all sorts of new things that made him smile.

 

“...And never in his life experienced heartbeat and sunshine until…”

 

Until Luffy met Law? When was that? On that night? 

 

No. 

 

Luffy knew Law  _ before _ that.

 

“Until…”

 

Two weeks. Luffy had stalked Law for two weeks. In the dark. Fending off demons without Law ever asking him to, without Law ever knowing. It was only because Law made those shitty turns that led him to a very secluded alley, which gave Bellamy a better chance to attack him. And if that didn’t happen, Luffy wouldn’t have had to intervene. They never would have met and both of them could’ve continued living their lives like they used to.

  
Both of them.

 

And then it dawned on him like it was the first time he was actually assessing his situation.  

 

It wasn’t just Law who’s had his world turned upside down. Luffy’s trying to cope in a world where he didn’t know shit either. The only difference was that Luffy was so fucking  _ positive _ . 

 

Why, though? How could he manage? How could—

 

“Until?” Mrs. Giolla’s voice barely registered in Law’s head.

 

_ I love you. _

 

Law was a fucking insensitive  _ asshole _ .

 

“...Until the idiot fell in love with a human who believed demons knew no love.”

 

It was more of a realization than an answer or a continuation to a sentence. Law was looking at the checkered black and white floor, but his brain was somewhere else—in a place that was more distorted than the room he was in.

 

But did Luffy love him? Did he  _ really _ ? Did demons know nothing of love...

 

“So the human doesn’t love him back?” His advisor asked.

 

...Or was it  _ Law _ who knew no love?

 

“The human he fell in love with was an asshole…” Law did his best to bring his consciousness back to the present, “...So probably not.”

 

“Probably?” Mrs. Giolla tilted her head and he could feel her watching him intently even as he continued to stare at the floor, “It’s not decided yet? There’s a chance for the demon?”

“For what?” Law looked up at her. He meant the question, though. There was a chance for  _ what _ exactly? For Luffy to figure out that demons were incapable of falling in love? For Luffy to snap out of it? For Luffy to leave him alone? For Luffy to just take the hint that Law was not invested in this relationship as much as he was? For Luffy to understand that he was trying so hard to find a way to break their bond so they could both be  _ free _ ? For Luffy to accept that Law can’t love him back?

 

..Or can he?

 

“Whose story is this?” Mrs. Giolla was saying again, putting a slight end to the train of Law’s thoughts, “This demon… Does he represent you?”

 

“N-no.” Law’s response was barely a whisper. Which question was he answering, though? The one in his head or the one that Mrs. Giolla had asked? Both, maybe? The words were still spilling inside his mind and he felt like his hands couldn’t handle all of the possibilities so that he could differentiate it from the truth. Law moved his fingers, feeling for something that should be there, but was strangely absent at the moment when he needed it. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he felt like it should be around his fingers whenever he felt anxious.

 

“No,” Law shook his head, forcefully dragging his sanity back to pay attention to the important conversation that was happening now, ignoring the strange emptiness he was feeling in his palm, “It’s not me.”

 

“Well, the demon sounds like you.”

 

He wasn’t sure if it was Mrs.Giolla’s words or the sudden clicking of her pen that made him lift his head to look up at her.

 

“He does?”

 

The woman behind the desk just shrugged and made a face as she opened her drawer to pull out a thick, hard-bound notebook with colorful paper sticking out from in between the pages.

 

“Obstinate, ignorant, irritating, foolish, reckless, condescending…” Law’s advisor narrated as she waved the hand that was holding the pen, “Just add the word “perfectionist” and it’s you.”

 

“Excuse me?” Law wasn’t sure if it was proper of him to subtly ask her to explain, but he felt the need to know.

 

“Since day one, you’ve been incorrigible and unbreakable.” 

 

There was the sound of scribbling pen on paper. It was refreshing for some reason and Law thought back on the sound of the heart seeds against glass earlier this morning. He recalled how the kernels felt in the spaces between his fingers. Why now, though?

 

“You do a fine job, oh, yes. You’re very excellent in what you do.” Mrs. Giolla stopped writing so she could look up at Law and nod at him, “But you’re so closed up and hard-headed. You  _ always _ try, almost always  _ insist _ , in fact, albeit quietly, for things to be done _ your _ way.”

 

And what did that mean exactly? Was that wrong? Was she telling him to be more flexible? But if he was doing his job excellently, what was the problem?

 

“You’ve never shown me any emotion from the day I first met you.” She waved the pen at him, ”I was starting to think you didn’t have any.” 

 

She turned the page of her notebook, but didn’t resume writing. The woman thoughtfully stared at the page for a while, letting the pen twirl in her fingers once or twice before looking up at Law again.

 

“But then I started questioning these tattoos...” She pointed her pen at him from head to toe as she spoke in a mix of curiosity and surprise that Law had probably never heard from anyone else before, “And suddenly you  _ snap _ and are enraged at me.” 

 

Why was that of any importance?

 

“You showed obvious emotion.”

 

She sounded amused.

 

“That’s a first, child.”

 

She sounded pleased.

 

“Apparently, these marks mean something to you.”

 

She sounded sure.

 

And in contrast, Law wasn’t sure of what to say and what the fuck this conversation was made of.

 

“Either way, it sounds like an unfinished story.” The woman had resumed writing on her thick notebook before opening her drawer and pulling out a folder, “Can you guarantee that they’re not gangster markings?”

 

“Yes.” Law nodded as he watched his advisor turn page after page on the folder like she was looking for something, “I guarantee they’re not.”

 

The air in the room suddenly became breathable and all the hatred Law had for the abstract pieces in the room seemed to have faded. He still didn’t know how to appreciate it, but at least he didn’t have an unfair level of abhorrence for it.

 

“You have how many subjects enrolled?” Mrs. Giolla’s eyes were running from the top of the page to the bottom before she smirked and turned to the next page.

 

“Two currently.”

 

“Okay. I just need a signed permit from your college dean that these tattoos are allowed and a signed letter from you stating that they’re not gangster markings.” Mrs. Giolla closed the folder and slid it back inside the drawer, “I don’t seem to have a copy of the required form with me right now. Ask one from Kalifa and have it signed. Then give it back to her or me so it can be filed before next week and we’re good.”

 

Those seemed like a lot of instructions, but it breezed by Law easily. Permit. Just a permit. He was getting out of this easily? The most he had to suffer was talking to Kalifa again?

 

“Really? Are you…” Law felt the need to double check, “Are you serious?”

 

“You look so blatantly confused.” Mrs. Giolla looked like she was about to laugh as she waved a finger jokingly at him, “That’s two emotions you’re showing me in a day.” The woman smiled and Law suddenly wondered what it would’ve been like to have her as an aunt, “I’m starting to think these tattoos are good for you.”

 

No, they weren’t. They poison his blood. And needed to feed Luffy to prevent that. And feeding Luffy involved anemia and orgasms, which was a very strange combination from whatever angle you looked at it.

 

“S-so, I can have lunch now?” Law asked.

 

“You haven’t had lunch yet?!” Mrs. Giolla looked surprised.

 

“N-no, ma’m.”

 

She didn’t know?

 

“Heavens, child!” A hand flew to her chest in surprise and disbelief, “You could’ve at least told me! This talk could have waited!”

 

Oh. Oh, it could? Had he not told her about lunch? Didn’t Bonney say anything? Wasn’t it obvious? Law felt dumb all of a sudden.

 

“Well, that demon in your story better know how to talk to people unlike you or he’s not getting anywhere with that human.” The woman paused and looked at him, shaking her head before waving him off, “Now go have your lunch.”

 

“Y-yes, ma’m. I mean... I mean, thanks, ma’m!”

 

Mrs. Giolla just kept on waving him out. Law turned to go. 

 

What just happened? That conversation made him view Mrs. Giolla in an entirely different light compared to when he arrived. She seemed to have had a better understanding of what he and Luffy were like and she didn’t even know a thing. All he did was to vaguely describe the situation with Luffy and then…. And then what the hell happened? How the hell did he get schooled about his own life like that? 

 

Law strode across the hall, walking along the open side so he could look down on the university grounds and catch the gentle breeze while he was at it. He wondered where Bonney, Penguin, and Shachi were. He couldn’t seem to spot them all the way from this floor. Everyone seemed so tiny and Law imagined sweeping them all with his hand and what the fuck was he thinking so suddenly? Maybe that distorted room had some magic shit spewing out of the walls that fucked Law’s mind twice over.

 

“Law!” 

 

See? He was starting to hear Luffy now. And speaking of which, where was that little shit?

 

“Laaaaaw!”

 

Again? Where was that coming from? Law’s body automatically kicked into defensive and braced himself for a small body that was possibly hurtling itself from  _ some _ direction towards him. The man looked around. Oddly, it seemed that he was the only one hearing Luffy’s voice. No one else seemed to be bothered by it. As much as he wanted to think it was just him hearing things, part of his system strongly decided against that. Hearing Luffy’s voice out of nowhere wasn’t something Law should take lightly. No, it wasn’t something  _ anyone _ should take lightly. If there was a storm cycloning towards you, would you not fucking want to be alerted?

 

“Pumpkin!”

 

And just like that, a body just suddenly fell on top of Law like it came from the sky except there was a  _ ceiling _ above him so what the  _ fuck _ ? It would’ve been strange on any other occasion because bodies weren’t supposed to fly out of nowhere let alone  _ appear out of thin air _ . But this was Luffy so every normal thing in the book was supposed to be forgotten and thrown, stepped on and burned. He was probably invisible or some shit that he forgot to tell Law he could do. Whatever. Law was more concerned about having a new god damn nickname than his vision going into a wild array of lefts and rights. He’d fallen back on his bottom, strangely not hurting as much as he thought it would.

 

“Baby-kins!” 

 

Again.  _ Again _ with the new fucking cheesy nickname that made Law cringe like ants were crawling along his spine. It’s been what? Two seconds since the last nickname and now he had a new one!

 

Law steadied his vision and blinked away the remnants of the motion as he adjusted to the weight that was his demon boyfriend currently straddling him. His eyes were shiny and shimmery like they often were when Law looked at him—swelling with joy, excitement, and some sort of  _ hope _ . 

 

“Luffy.”

 

Law wasn’t even surprised anymore. Normally, he’d care about people walking around, buzzing about where this kid came from and why were there two men trying to cuddle awkwardly in the middle of the—Why were they suddenly on the fucking  _ roof _ !?

 

“Luffy, where the hell are we!?!” Law sat up with a yell, scampering back because this fucking thing was  _ inclined _ and the idea of sliding off to his death was not the way he wanted to go.

 

“Laaaaaw!” Luffy threw his arms around Law’s torso instead, his face finding its favorite spot against Law’s chest so he could rub against the man, taking deep inhales like Law was some sort of drug he desperately needed, “I found you! I’m so glad I found you!”

 

The first question Law wanted to ask was why Luffy was here. What was he doing in the university? Except Law already knew the answer to that, didn’t he? He’s here to see his human. So moving on to more important matters…

 

“ _ Why _ are we on the roof, Luffy!?” Law was trying so hard not to move, but the wind felt so strong, it was like he was going to be blown away. 

 

“Don’t you like it here?” Luffy tilted his head, pouting a bit.

 

“Well, not right now!” One of Law’s hands was on the small of Luffy’s back while the other was gripping the demon’s shoulder as he tried to figure out how many floors they were above the ground right now, “Take us somewhere e—”

 

“I kind of like how you’re clinging onto me, th—”

 

“ _ Luffy! _ ”

 

The demon rolled his eyes away and if Law wasn’t too stunned from imagining himself falling off this roof then he’d slap Luffy’s face right off his head. 

 

But then everything became a blur again and when Law came to, he was lying flat on his back and looking at the sky. The weight against this body and the hair that was poking his nose told him that Luffy was on top of him. Where were they? Law looked around. They seemed to be in one of the university buildings’ rooftops.

 

“Is this better?” Luffy’s mumbled, shifting so he could rub his cheek against Law’s chest. 

 

Well, better than the goddamn inclined roof. 

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Law found it was awkward to shrug in this position.

 

“So are you okay?” Luffy looked up slightly from Law’s chest like he’d really rather talk into the man’s ribs if that were possible so he could just keep on sniffing him, “Pen-guy and Bonney were saying you got in trouble because of my—”

 

Oh. So he had met Bonney already?

 

“I didn’t.” Law sighed, patting Luffy on the thigh so he’d get off. The demon offered some measly form of resistance by whining into his human’s collarbone as Law kept talking, “I mean, I thought I was, but I’m okay now.”

 

After receiving another pat on the thigh, Luffy rolled off his human. Law was just about to get up to get lunch, but the boy’s slender arms curled around him and pulled him into a quiet hug. And Law, for some reason, didn’t have the heart to tell Luffy to fuck off. The little demon inched upward some more so his head was on Law’s shoulder before curling against his human and sighing in satisfaction. 

 

“I missed you so much.” Luffy always sounded like he’d rather be next to Law than anywhere else. It sometimes felt like it was such an exaggeration. But then again, maybe it wasn’t. Luffy’s hugs initially felt like he meant to attack or injure. But Law learned that he really was just so expressive that it was surprising his little demon hadn’t exploded from so much emotions yet.

 

“I’ve been gone half a day.” Law sighed, looking away. 

 

He’s been with Luffy for  _ two days _ . What was he doing thinking he knew shit like “he’s just too expressive”?

 

“Well,” Luffy murmured. There was a slight but definite tightening of Luffy’s fingers against the material of his human’s clothes. His voice was barely a whisper, but loud enough to ring back and forth in Law’s head, “It felt longer than that.”

 

Maybe Law would never understand how Luffy wanted to be with him every second. Law had things to do. Things to take care of. Things that needed to be done by him alone. The affection he was receiving from this little demon was too overwhelming. There was so much of it that Law didn’t know what to do with it anymore. And it’s only been  _ two days _ . Luffy was just… Law was only… They were simply… It was impossible for Law to ever return what Luffy was giving to him. It was too much. Far too much for a human being alone.

 

“Luffy.”

 

“Mmm?”

 

Law looked down to see his incubus lying contentedly on his shoulder. His eyes were closed lightly with the corners of his lips pulled up so slightly as he breathed softly like this was the best place in the world. And it wasn’t. They were lying on the hard pavement of a dirty rooftop under the scorching heat of the angry sun. There was nothing good about this place. And yet Law’s inked hands came up, gently brushing away the stray wisps of hair on Luffy’s face. He wasn’t aware he was doing it carefully so his resting incubus wouldn’t have to open his eyes.

 

They said demons came to you with everything you’ve ever wanted. Law wondered if there was any truth to that as his fingers brushed lightly against Luffy’s soft cheek.

 

“Law?” Luffy asked without opening his eyes, leaning with a hum into Law’s touch.

 

“It’s nothing.” Law whispered, leaning forward to drop a kiss on Luffy’s forehead, but decided against it and looked away.

 

This was fine.

 

Lunch could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last time, I was concerned by the length of my chapters. I told myself I’ll try to tone it down, but then I’ve given you a lengthy chapter nine. There was no way I could’ve split this and still be happy with it. This is basically why it took me a long while before I could put up this chapter. I try to publish at least one every week and I hope to continue doing so even with work and other responsibilities that get in the way of nurturing my OTP love. Why, life? Why?
> 
> Also, cardiospermum is an actual plant. They’re also really called heart seeds in some places. I remember playing with its seeds when I was a kid. 
> 
> Anyway, reviews and comments are very much welcome and appreciated. Please let me know if there’s something you’d like to improve on, which parts you particularly liked, or maybe what you’re expecting. I love hearing from readers. It makes me happy and helps me improve as well. :D 
> 
> Thank you!


	10. Possession

 

The problem with having an incubus, Law learned, was that the whole relationship was very emotionally and sexually  _ volatile.  _ Just a while ago, they were lying on the rooftop flooring, ignoring the harsh sunlight as Law thoughtfully felt Luffy’s hair against his fingers. The boy was curled next to him, head on his shoulder, a hand over his torso, and one leg over Law’s own. But sometimes, things  _ happen _ , you know? Something  _ must _ have happened in the next five minutes. It could have been Luffy’s curious hand wandering all over Law’s torso or Law’s warm breath against Luffy’s skin or just…  _ sparks _ . Law couldn’t figure when it started. One second, they were being cute and sentimental with a gentle “I missed you”. The next second, they were trying to devour each other’s mouths, cursing in between.

 

The build up of their sexual tension was something like a gentle breeze that just spun itself into a raging tornado out of nowhere in the blink of an eye. 

 

So now Law was pinning Luffy down, drinking his delicious moans, tongue brazenly sliding into the incubus’ hot and willing mouth, and if Luffy started grinding against him now, he’d be gone. Law should be questioning his actions at the moment. Even the sun seemed to be glaring disappointedly at him. In fact, both he and Luffy were already sweating profusely, which should be gross and icky by normal standards, but that just made Law want to take their clothes off. And that was an absolute ticket to them fucking on the goddamn open rooftop, which could then very much grant Law an expulsion and a public indecency lawsuit. 

 

But.  _ But _ ! Luffy was just so good at this that Law was starting to understand what “sexual demon” actually meant. All Luffy had to do was brush his lips against Law’s the right way and the man in him would be so fucking thirsty for more. 

 

When had kissing been so damn good?

 

“Law, no, please…” Luffy was breathlessly calling him back as soon as he started to pull away to catch his own breath, “Please, I still…”

 

Fuck, how was he to resist that? Law brought his mouth down again with Luffy sighing contentedly, pulling his human closer as his fingers started undoing the top buttons of Law’s shirt. 

 

“Hey, no.” Law swatted Luffy’s hand, but the boy was insistent and his small hand quickly moved away from his human’s limited reach between their bodies. It expertly snaked under Law’s now untucked clothes—when did that happen?—one palm sliding against the man’s sides. And oddly enough, although Luffy was the one doing the touching, he was also the one shuddering with a low whisper, “Oh, sweet hell, please, let me lick your skin.  _ Please _ .” 

 

Good god, what was with all the begging? They were just making out. What the hell?

 

“Luffy, wait,  _ stop _ .” Law pulled away even as Luffy chased with lips against his neck. He felt for the medical patch he placed on the hickey. It was starting to wrinkle and it was going to come off his skin if he perspired any more.

 

“But,  _ why _ ?” It was a very needy whine that had Law fighting every urge inside him to just pull down their pants and quickly fuck him on the roof, “No one’s here. I can even scream for you and no one will know.”

 

God. Fucking. Dammit. Luffy should stop making offers like that out of the blue. It caught Law off-guard almost a hundred percent of the time. The only reason why he did not look like a stupid, startled dog when it happened was because he had a very good sense of awareness to quickly gather his thoughts and have composure.

 

“Anyone could come up here any time.” Law sat up quickly. He had to will himself from getting turned on by the little inconsiderate demon who was now trying to straddle him, “Luffy!”

 

“Please, Law.”

 

Tattooed hands immediately landed on Luffy’s hips before he could start grinding against his human. The incubus groaned, his thighs twitching, hands clutching onto Law’s shoulders and wrinkling the material of his shirt.

 

“Laaaaaw…!”

 

“ _ No _ .” Law told him firmly and he was glad he did so before Luffy looked up. His lips were still glistening wet from the kissing, cheeks flushed pink. There was also something about sweat trickling down his neck that made him a bit more... wantable. And as Law observed the rising and falling of his chest, he entertained the thought of how he could make Luffy breathe heavier than that. 

 

Inappropriate, Trafalgar Law. Shame on you. You’re on an open rooftop. Breathe the fucking air. It’s  _ free _ .

 

The man took a deep breath before looking at the broad horizon behind Luffy. It was a good attempt on trying to use serenity to calm his dick down. Really. Like erection zen, which was a stupid name, but if its silliness helped in shooing away arousal then Law was taking that. After all, resisting an incubus was not humdrum.

 

“See?” Luffy murmured, inching closer, like a predator smelling blood “You want this.”

 

“No, I don’t.” Law kept his hands firmly on Law’s thighs, but didn’t pushing him away.

 

Luffy leaned forward and licked the base of Law’s neck, right between the collar bone. His human flinched with a sound that seemed to be a whimper and a moan forcefully being swallowed with embarrassment. Luffy snickered and looked up with only his eyes moving to see the faintly red hue splashing on Law’s cheeks. His human was so cute when he was flustered. Luffy wanted to taste him.

 

“Can I feed, at least?”

 

That prompted Law to look at Luffy almost instantly. Feed? In the middle of the rooftop? In broad daylight? Last time he tried to feed his demon, he  _ came in his pants. _ He was fully clothed and grinding against Luffy until he orgasmed with more intensity than dry humping should ever be capable of. And he wanted that  _ now _ ? In the middle of the day? On university grounds? What a really hot ide— _ day _ . It was a  _ hot day _ and the scorching sun was affecting Law’s rational thinking.

 

“Please? I missed you.” Luffy’s round eyes started turning into those begging pools of cuteness. His lips started pouting in that small puckered shape that made Law’s stomach hurl itself towards his lungs, “Just a little blood, I promise.”

 

Well, if it’s just a peck or something then maybe Law could…Wait, no. He can’t.  _ Mustn’t _ . He just survived his predicament with Mrs.Giolla. He shouldn’t get his foot in another tentative quicksand. Plus his demon gave him how many blowjobs in the wee hours of the morning. That was so fucking  _ draining _ ! Luffy had no business asking to be fed so soon after doing such a thing!

 

Oh, but the incubus was already shifting forward so slowly on Law’s lap like he meant no harm. That just made Law all the more alert to his movements—how he placed one palm against Law’s chest, right above his heavily beating heart; how his other hand slowly undid the second button on Law’s shirt, carefully and somewhat innocently letting his fingers scrape against the skin underneath; how he was breathing against Law’s ear, his mouth barely touching, just enough to tempt.

 

“May I?”

 

He even had the courtesy—or was it audacity?—to ask.

 

“Well, you’re already  _ there _ .” Law tried to sound sassy and pissed while trying to sound like he was breathing normally, too.

 

Luffy chuckled, pressing his face against Law’s neck and inhaling deeply to make his human shudder. He flicked his tongue once, twice, and Law wondered if that was his demon’s version of anesthesia. Fuck, with his mind undistracted, feeling the fangs on his skin must be like being shot from point blank range.

 

Except it wasn’t.

 

Law could feel Luffy’s teeth sinking into his skin. The lack of pain was confusing to his logical mind. He would probably never understand how getting bitten by an incubus felt so good despite being so simple. It was like blissful penetration after a long and drawn out foreplay session. 

 

Despite the sun’s sweltering heat, Law could still feel and welcome the warmth of Luffy’s tongue licking the blood off his skin. Law closed his eyes, gasping once and moaning at the same time as he felt his whole persona being swept into a wave of quiet, relaxing pleasure. His joints were turning into jelly, but Luffy’s strong arms were there to support him. He held Law gently like he was something that was going to break. Tattooed fingers curled, digging into Luffy’s thighs as the man made slow, but deep inhales for air with some moaning in between. So damn relaxing. So fucking  _ good _ . Law wasn’t sure if he wanted to tip his head back or lean forward against Luffy, but the whole thing was over before he could decide. He almost wanted to whimper.

 

Law had braced himself to be aroused like a sex-deprived man, but that didn’t happen. The whole thing was like a calm wave rocking him to sleep.

 

“Thanks for the meal.” The little demon whispered, gently pushing Law’s head so it was on Luffy’s shoulder before gently kissing Law on the temple. That felt good. 

 

“I haven’t even had lunch yet.” Law groaned, not moving from where his forehead was still plastered on his small boyfriend’s shoulder. Luffy chuckled, breathing into his human’s hair. Law carefully slid his arms around Luffy’s waist because it felt right and comfortable. The question of why it felt so was kicked towards some corner of his brain. He’d deal with it later.

 

“Well, it’s never too late to have food.” 

 

“It  _ is _ too late.” 

 

“Aww.” Luffy whispered again. Lovingly, Law noted, causing his mind to circle back to the question of whether demons could differentiate between love and fondness. Luffy’s small hand lightly ran through Law’s hair, trailing carefully down the back of his neck, sliding soothingly down his spine, and then back up to his hair again in a very rhythmical kind of stroking. There was just enough pressure and gentleness to make Law release an uncharacteristic  _ purr _ . His demon seemed to be pleased by that sound, Law thought. Just one of the things he just knew without knowing how.

 

“You want me to get you something really quick?” Luffy offered, speaking softly and carefully like he didn’t want to disturb the human he was sitting on.

 

“I brought lunch.” Law sighed before groaning again, “Urgh, Bonney has it. We heated it earlier but it’s fucking cold by now, god dammit. I’m going to reheat it again and it’s going to taste like dead tree roots. I can’t believe this. I give up. I am such a failure at this food planning shit and I wasted Sanji’s time with that—”

 

“Woah, woah, slow down, precious.” Luffy pulled back so he could cup Law’s cheeks and squeeze his face together so that he puckered like a fish, “It’s just cold lunch. You’re not going to hell.”

 

“Fair-ure.” Having a squishy face was not going to stop Law from glaring at his demon.

 

“No, perfect.” Luffy smiled and kissed his nose, “Wait here. I’m getting you lunch.”

 

* * *

 

When Luffy came back five minutes later holding a big dead rat by the tail, Law realized with horror that Luffy’s idea of getting lunch was  _ hunting _ . Wherever Luffy got that rat, Law had no clue, but it was so fucking huge that his initial reaction was to jump away with a surprised, uncharacteristic yelp. 

 

“What is that!?” There was an urge to cling onto the wire fence to keep him from cringing. He’d seen dead things before in a more gruesome manner, but none of those were presented for him to be  _ eaten _ .

 

“Lunch!”

 

“Luffy, it’s a  _ rat _ !” Law all but yelled, teeth grit and eyes widened. He was supposed to say “I don’t want it!” But Luffy’s beaming face was like a puppy’s waiting to be praised after coming back with a stick. It forbade Law to just blatantly reject the dead thing that his demon had brought for him. 

 

But it was a  _ rat _ , god damn it!   
  


“So? Does it matter? It’s meat.” Luffy held out his arm with the dead carcass swinging from his hand and Law didn’t stop himself from taking a cautious step back, “If it’s dead, it’s meat and humans can cook it. If it’s cooked, humans can eat it.” 

 

Law did not know what to say. The expression on his face, however, was probably telling a story on its own because Luffy felt the need to add to his explanation to make him sound more credible.

 

“Sanji does it all the time.” Luffy stated like he was being convincing, “I mean, have you  _ seen _ a dead chicken?”

 

Maybe Law needed to educate Luffy on what it meant to properly feed a human being.

 

“And you need to eat right now.” The incubus pouted, a worried expression crawling over his previously bright features, “Humans are frail. I need to take care of you.”

 

“Yeah, but…” Law sighed in defeat, thinking of a quick way to reject the rat without breaking Luffy’s heart that Law shouldn’t even care about, but then  _ that face _ .

 

“Luffy, you see,” Law scratched his head, “Sanji drafted that meal plan for me because I needed it for my blood.”

 

“Oh.” Luffy’s shoulders dropped with a downcast expression, lowering his arm slowly, “I guess this isn’t what you needed, then?”

 

Oh, no. No. Not that face. Not that kind of face.

 

Luffy  _ had _ to stop doing these expressions that made Law do stupid things like actually considering turning the dead rat into something edible. But he was neither a cook nor a survival expert. He also had no time to disinfect, skin, disinfect, prepare, disinfect, and make disinfected stew or whatever out of it. And yet he really,  _ really _ couldn’t just toss it out. Because Luffy went through the trouble of catching the damned thing for him in five minutes. But it was a  _ rat _ . Couldn’t he have gotten a rabbit? Not that Law had the time to skin a rabbit, but a  _ rat _ ? Really? He should be cursing the fuck out of this bloody thing while puking his guts out. Yet he wasn’t.  What was  _ wrong _ with him? He didn’t even know what to do with it!

 

Doctor Hiluluk did, however. He had a fondness for studying dead animals and honestly, Law did, too. Except the old doctor made use of methods that were both amazing and downright weird to Law. He didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing.

 

After stuffing the dead rat in a bag that Luffy quickly found for Law (“Are you  _ sure _ you didn’t steal this?”), the two headed back down so Law could get his already cold lunch from Bonney. She wasn’t keen on surrendering the lunch until Law told them what happened, though. The transition of his friends from worried to relieved was like finding out that Law had received pardon after being on the death row. These three may be idiots, but at least they were idiots who cared. 

 

With no time to mingle or reheat his lunch, Law headed straight to the infirmary to have his meal at the workplace. It wasn’t like he could send Luffy home or ask anyone to pick him up so his only choice was to take his incubus with him. And Luffy seemed to have the time of his life skipping from the grounds to the clinic. He was humming the entire way with this fingers intertwined with Law’s. It made the man feel a bit conscious, but there was no use fretting about it now. They were “in a relationship” after all. And Luffy’s happy face was just… what was another, less mushy term for cute? Luffy’s happy face was  _ that _ .

 

Doctor Hiluluk was the only man Law knew who would be  _ this _ delighted about receiving a dead rat. He immediately welcomed them in and got a jar for his “gift” before he started yapping about something. Law really couldn’t understand because he was busy texting Sanji about finding Luffy or rather, Luffy finding him. Sanji had texted back almost immediately with, “Yours has GPS? Lucky.” To which Law replied with, “Install one on yours?” and got a reply of “Tried. Incompatible with moss lol“. Texting was fun now.

 

Law’s incubus, on the other hand, had went ahead and introduced himself to the doctor. He was more than happy to describe how he got the rat and where. Because of that, Doctor Hiluluk was more than happy to let him hang around the infirmary. Or laboratory. Because infirmaries weren’t supposed to have shelves with a dead rat in a jar. Law had decided to put the horrific thing in the cabinet before resuming his lunch just like that. Either med school forged his guts into iron or he was a really twisted son of a bitch.

 

“So…” Luffy was saying now as Law settled back on the chair next to him, “This will make him want me like there’s no tomorrow?”

 

That didn’t sound good. Law looked to see Luffy holding a bright round orange candy-looking thing about the size of a grown man’s thumb. The doctor had given it to Luffy in exchange for the dead rat. Great. First, the self-made condom. Now he had some sort of aphrodisiac candy drug.

 

“Well, it depends.” Doctor Hiluluk began with enough confidence that made Luffy lean forward in interest, “There are different ways that you—”

 

“Doc, seriously, stop teaching him these things.” Law was poking around the beef on his cold lunch, “You’re not a peddling witch doctor.”

 

Said “not peddling witch doctor” then leaned towards Law as Luffy watched intently. 

 

“Then look me in the eye and tell me there’s no medicine to increase a man’s libido.”

 

_ That _ argument? Really? Sometimes Law wondered  _ why _ this man was hired and considered to be one of the most reliable doctors around. Sure, he had skill despite unorthodox methods, but  _ still _ , there should be a limit to how silly a professional should be. Doctor Kureha was more tolerable, but it didn’t mean she didn’t have her own dose of crazy. Maybe this university had a penchant for hiring “avant-garde” doctors.

 

“I’m not saying it’s impossible,” Law was fending off the strong urge to roll his eyes away, “What I’m saying is—”

 

“Oooohhh, so this  _ could _ work!?” Leave it to Luffy to see the bright side of even an incomplete sentence.

 

“Verily.” Hiluluk nodded and Luffy practically inhaled and giggled at the same time.

 

“Luffy,” Law chewed on his beef and broccoli before swallowing and poking at the rest of it again, “Do you realize that this does not mean I will be attracted to  _ you _ ?”

 

The little demon’s face was swept with a look of fright, covering his mouth as he made a disbelieving gasp of worry and alarm. 

 

“You mean…!” Luffy leaned towards Law, one hand holding onto the man’s arm, “You mean this could make you cheat on me!?” 

 

Law just shrugged to keep things interesting. Let him figure it out.

 

And Luffy  _ did _ try to. The curious incubus sat there, looking between Law and the orange ball in his hand for a while, murmuring something that was nothing more than a buzz. Law pretended to be more interested in his uninteresting beef and broccoli until Luffy spoke up, “Well, if I lock us up in a room, you’re not going to have a choice, are you?”

 

Law just glared at Luffy. That wasn’t the issue. 

 

_ God damn it, Luffy. _

 

“Ooo, Law chose a smart one.” Penguin nodded approvingly from the other end of the room where he was sitting between Bonney and Shachi on one of the infirmary beds. 

 

“You mean an evil scheming one.” Shachi adjusted his hat as Bonney stuffed her face with potato chips, burping before she added, “Like himself.” 

 

“Verily!” Luffy smiled widely at all of them like he received some sort of big compliment. Doctor Hiluluk laughed heartily.

 

“Stop encouraging him!” Law slammed his palm on the table, whipping towards his friends, “Why are you all even here!?”

 

“No more class for me today.” Shachi shrugged, pulling back his bag that was about to fall off the table next to the bed they were sitting on. It fell anyway.

 

“Same!” Penguin raised his hand, accidentally elbowing Shachi as he bent to pick up his bag.

 

“Done with class and no SA stuff scheduled today.” Bonney leaned back as she tipped the open plastic bag towards her face so the smaller bits would fall into her open mouth. Why won’t she ever stop eating? She was going to get crumbs all over that bed and Law had to check that later. Fucking hell. He took back the night thought he had for his friends. They were idiots who barely cared. Stupid people.

 

“Well, that doesn’t mean you should stay here, does it?” Law shoved a spoonful of his lunch into his mouth because it didn’t look like it was being consumed at all, “This is an infirmary. Not a lobby.” Law stood up and refilled his empty glass via the water dispenser, “You’re going to contaminate everything!”

 

“Law, we’re not running any quarantine program.” The doctor had trace of laughter in his speech as he watched his student assistant return to the small table while drinking, “You can calm down.”

 

“See?” Bonney crumpled the plastic and threw it into the bin nearby, “The doctor’s fine with it!”

 

“Well, it’s still…” Law put his glass down and picked up his lunch only to find an orange  _ something _ peeking from under his food. Oh, what on  _ earth _ could that be? The man grunted and turned to the incubus beside him. He had suddenly and conveniently fallen asleep with his head on the table. How convenient.

 

“Luffy, what is this orange thing doing in my food?”

 

The demon’s response?  _ Snoring _ .

 

Law put the lid back on his lunch.   
  
“I’m throwing this away.”

 

“No, don’t!” Luffy jolted right up, hands shooting out to grab Law’s lunch, but Law was faster—for now, and a rare occasion, too—and he held up the microwavable container with his lunch along with the abominable orange libido poison. The demon chased after him, but Law immediately took big strides backward and away from him.

 

“Give it back! It’s  _ mine _ !” Luffy yelled impatiently, stomping as he followed Law with his eyes, “It was traded for the rat!”

 

“Stop screaming!” Law had practically hollered back, which was contrary to what he was saying as he walked quickly away from Luffy, “This is an infirmary, not a playground!”

  
“I’m giving you a chance to give it back to me!”, Luffy stomped again, glaring at Law, “Don’t make me do things, Law! I’m fucking telling you! ”

 

“Try it.” Law squinted at him, “Try anything I don’t like and you’re going to  _ starve _ even if that means I’m going to feel like shit.” 

 

Luffy gasped with eyes wide open as if to say, “You wouldn’t.” That just made Law glare harder and say, “Don’t you fuck with me. You  _ know _ I’ll do it.”

  
Luffy gasped louder. There was a low “oooh” from Shachi. 

 

“You’re no fun, Law!” the demon was gesturing to grab Law before covering his face with his hands in frustration, “You’re really no fun!”

 

“You know what’s fun?” Bonney had pulled out a pack of crackers from her bottomless bag, “Watching Law interact with his boyfriend.”

 

“Yeah, I can do this all day.” Shachi nodded as his arm extended towards the crisp sound of plastic only to find that it wasn’t open yet. The man in the oversized hat sighed and took it out of Bonney’s hands so he could open it himself.

 

“I don’t even know what they’re talking about.” Bonney mumbled as she watched Shachi get some crackers so he could hand the rest of it back to her, “It’s like watching a reality show.”

 

“Couples tend to have weird internal discussions most of the time.” Penguin, on the other hand, was waiting for Shachi to take his hand out of the cracker bag so he could get some of it himself.

 

“I agree.” Doctor Hiluluk laughed and got up to pour hot water for himself, “You know, Law is like this infirmary. Rarely lively.”

 

“Maybe that’s what Luffy is for.” Bonney said again, watching her friend bicker with his small, but loud boyfriend. The old man laughed as he dunked the tea bag into the small cup and headed towards the window near the bed that the three were sitting on, “It sure is nice to be surrounded by you energetic young lot.”

 

“Luffy,” Law was growling, “I swear if you—!”

 

Three knocks on the door sent Law to silence and made Doctor Hiluluk stop from sniffing his tea. There was a significant sound of the clinking ceramic as the doctor gently placed the cup back on the saucer.

 

“Um? Excuse me?”

 

The infirmary door opened slightly and everyone except Luffy had turned to see a young college girl peeking shyly into the room. Law looked distracted for a bit, allowing Luffy to jump forward and grab the plastic container with a triumphant, “Hah!” The demon looked up smugly with the intention of gloating, but that immediately disappeared as soon as he saw his human’s expression.

 

Law’s overall aura had changed in an instant. He was fluid but rigid and the air around him suddenly turned serious. His attention was focused on the person at the door. Not mad, not happy. Just…  _ attentive? _

 

Huh? He’d never seen Law look like this before. 

 

Luffy turned his attention to the newly arrived girl. Did Law know her? 

 

“May I help you?” his human asked in an intonation that Luffy almost didn’t recognize.

 

Huh? Huh? Luffy started blinking. Since when did Law speak like that? It was smoother than usual, not so monotone but so… So… Luffy couldn’t find the term. It was like the voice salesmen used in the mall except Law was far less cheery and more… Rigid? Serious? Fluid? He sounded like a very competent person, too. Like you’d believe anything he’d say because you knew he was... qualified? Argh, what was the word? Why was he so dumb? Luffy really couldn’t put a finger on the term as he stepped to the side so Law could pass. The demon followed with his eyes, eagerly watching his human take calm, elegant strides towards the infirmary visitor.

 

“Do you have…” The girl said softly as she entered, closing the door lightly behind her. The sounds spilling from the hallway died down.

 

“Do you have aspirin, doctor? I mean… I mean, sir… Um... ” She looked consciously at the other people in the room before looking up at the approaching student assistant, “I have a headache and…”

 

Doctor? Luffy tilted his head. He looked at Doctor Hiluluk. He was drinking tea. Huh? Law was a doctor?

 

“How are you feeling?” Law put his palm on her forehead and then the back of his hand on her neck. Her breath hitched almost unnoticeably as Law kept talking, “You don’t seem to have a fever. Are you feeling dizzy?”

 

Why did he touch her? Why was Law asking? 

 

Luffy would’ve yelled for Law touching someone else, but he was too absorbed in his human’s new demeanor to even be bothered to react.

 

“N-no.” She shook her head, her cheeks flushed pink as she cleared her throat, “Just a headache, sir. Doctor. Um. I’m sorry, I just...”

 

The girl said “doctor”, but, again, Law  _ wasn’t _ a doctor, was he? Maybe she was referring to Doctor Hiluluk? Again,  _ no _ . She was looking at  _ Law _ . She didn’t even glance at the only real doctor in the room. And the old man didn’t seem to care. He was just staring out the window, drinking his tea. 

 

Luffy frowned a bit and  _ then _ he sensed it. The human girl was here for Law. Luffy could easily smell her attraction to his human now that she was flustered.

 

All three of Law’s friends were exchanging looks before they discreetly glanced at Luffy. He knew why, but he was too focused on observing his human to give a fuck about other people or the plastic box in his hand.

 

So was the girl trying to give Law a nickname? Well, she wasn’t allowed to do that. Why was she doing that?

 

“It’s fine. You don’t have to call me anything.” Law motioned for her to follow and Luffy smiled.

 

_ Yeah. Don’t give him nicknames. You tell her, Law. Tell her. _

 

“Anyway, come in.” 

 

Luffy frowned. 

 

_ No! Send her away! _

 

The girl quickly swept her eyes across the room as she trotted behind the young medical student. Law turned towards smaller desk beside the doctor’s table and started to work on the laptop, “I need your name so I can check your record first.”

 

Doctor Hiluluk made a weird sound as he continued looking out the window. Luffy could see Bonney waving at him from the corner of his eye.

 

“Luffy!” she was almost whispering. Why couldn’t she just call him properly? “Luffy, come here for a sec!”

 

Luffy started towards the pink-haired girl. Penguin was mumbling something to Shachi. Luffy decided to not pay attention to that as he stood in front of Bonney. He made sure to angle himself so Law was still in his range of vision. His human was talking about class sections and majors. Nothing made sense to Luffy, but it sounded like a technical discussion, not a personal one.

 

“Are you bothered?” Bonney was asking now.

 

“About her?” Luffy nodded at the girl Law was talking to. Bonney nodded. Luffy let that question linger for a while as he stared at the human female who was attracted to his Trafalgar Law. She had beautiful curly brown locks tied back in a neat ponytail and her hazel eyes looked lively, but shy. Or was it only because she was staring at Law? It didn’t matter. Luffy’s eyes zoned in on his human. Contrary to the girl, Law was basically cool, calm, and… what was the term? One thing was clear, though. Now that Luffy paid attention, his human did not have any attraction to this new person.

 

“Not really, I guess.” Luffy shook his head, “She doesn’t seem like a threat.”

 

Bonney sighed like she was relieved. What for? Penguin and Shachi were smiling. Again, what for? Humans were weird.

 

“That’s the sixth girl today already.” Doctor Hiluluk whispered, tugging Luffy’s sleeve. Luffy didn’t look, though. He was too busy observing Law. 

 

His human was not touching the girl, but her amusement was overflowing. Luffy could almost hear her giggling from the inside. Her glittering, mesmerized eyes stared at his human as he smoothly explained something. And Law was smiling at her, like he would for a child. But, oh. Luffy hadn’t seen that smile before and it irked him a bit how he’d missed it even after two weeks of stalking. Maybe two weeks wasn’t that long after all. 

 

The girl was smiling back, a bit meekly, like the only thing she wanted was for Law to look at her to make her day. And Luffy could relate somehow. Was he the same back then?

 

He shook his head. Things were different now.

 

But had Law ever smiled at him? At all? Luffy continued to wonder. 

 

“Sixth?” Luffy mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, eyes still plastered on Law.

 

“Sixth of Law’s...  _ patients _ .” Hiluluk said lowly and sarcastically with a snicker before noisily slurping his tea, “Before you youngsters came around, five came by earlier already and missed him.” 

 

“Oh. So you knew?” Luffy murmured back with a small smile of his own, “That’s why you didn’t speak up? You knew she’s here for  _ him _ .”

 

The doctor winked and slurped more tea. Luffy laughed.

 

Sixth, he said. And that was in this place alone. It wasn’t even surprising. To be honest, there were a lot more of these humans noticing Law while they were on the way here. Luffy was pretty sure Law noticed some of them, too. His human wasn’t dumb. He just didn’t care. Didn’t even glance. Didn’t even look away. Didn’t even acknowledge those people in any way. Just didn’t give a fuck. And Luffy felt some sort of pride in that.

 

It was an amusing thing, too. The interest in Law ranged from “have been smitten in the past and hoping for attention” to “taking a second look because he was  _ hot _ ”. They weren’t significant. Not in Luffy’s book. 

 

There wasn’t anyone who actively tried to throw themselves at Law’s feet and it wasn’t like half the population was looking at Law but then they weren’t  _ few _ . The rough number of people who took notice of the gorgeous Trafalgar Law was enough to make Luffy hold onto his human’s tattooed hand the entire time they were walking together. Not for security, though. He had  _ bragging rights _ and he was going to  _ flaunt it _ . 

 

_ Yes, yes, you poor, little humans. Feast your eyes, but this one’s taken. And all mine. _

 

And he cackled like a maniac at the back of his head, imagining how he would like to be shoved by his charming host against the wall. He would be more than happy to make out heavily in front of other people. Heck, he was  _ fine _ with having sex out in the open if that was Law wanted.

 

But this girl, though.

 

This girl.

 

Law had ignored everyone outside, but he was talking to this girl. Why? What made her different from any of them? Why was he nice to her although he wasn’t attracted to her? Why? 

 

“B-but, you know, Law never really pays more attention than he should to any of these people.” Penguin mumbled, glancing at Shachi who immediately nodded like that would make it look more convincing, “He’s just really professional.”

 

“Professional?” Luffy blinked, “What’s that?”

 

“It means… It means he’s just really proficient and dedicated to his craft.” Penguin explained and the way Luffy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion made Law’s friend explain further, “Like he talks to them because he  _ has _ to, not because he  _ wants to _ . He entertains them in a way that is expected of him. He cares for his patients although he isn’t a doctor yet because that’s what being a doctor is about. At least for him.” Penguin shrugged, “So… Professional.”

 

“Oh.” Luffy nodded. Maybe  _ that _ was the word he was looking for. Professional. That made much more sense now. Law was just  _ doing his job _ . Well, well, well,  _ well _ ! That was good news. Not that Luffy was worried. At all. Law was just so  _ professional _ . 

 

“And then there’s god damn Kalif—ow!” Bonney flinched and dropped the cracker she was holding after Penguin elbowed her in the side. She glared at the young man who just glared back. They continued bickering in mumbles with Shachi joining in while shooting conscious glances at Luffy who could pretty much hear them—”Don’t bring up Kalifa.” “But he saw her already.” “Yeah, but he doesn’t know how bitchy she can be.” “Well, he  _ should _ .”—while still just looking at Law.

 

It was nice and reassuring to know how Law’s friends tried to look out for him. Luffy wanted to say thank you.

 

“Are you running low on sleep, miss?” Law’s voice made its way to Luffy’s attention, making him mentally repeat a mantra of how Law was just being “professional”.

 

“A-ah… I… A bit, maybe.” She smiled wanly. The frail little thing had a good-looking charmer in front of her and all she could do was  _ look _ . Because Luffy was going to break her arm if she touched without permission.

 

“You’re a freshman and this might be a bit too assuming since I don’t know you...” Law was writing something, “...But don’t overwork yourself. College isn’t about studying until you die.”

 

The happy flash in the girl’s eyes was so bright when she heard that. Luffy wanted to yell, “He doesn’t care the way you think he does!” But he shut up. Law wouldn’t want to be interrupted. He was, after all,  _ professional _ . Luffy liked that word, he decided.

 

“Y-yes…!” she stuttered, blushing wildly, “Th-thank you!”

 

Aww. She thought Law was somewhat concerned for her well-being. Luffy felt the need to point out that nope, this was part of his job. He wasn’t about to tell her to take care of herself better just because he was worried about her. Law was not worried for her on a personal level. He was totally out of this girl’s reach. Her sad fate was enough for Luffy to keep quiet. The poor thing.

 

But, seriously, if she touched, Luffy was going to break her arm and she was going from poor thing to broken thing to dead thing really fast.

 

“Take it easy.” Law was holding a piece of paper now, “You seem stressed and jumpy. If you’d like, maybe the doctor could prescribe vitamins or something, too.”

 

“Th-the doctor?” She looked at Doctor Hiluluk and then turned nervously back to Law, “But… But I’m just here for aspirin.”

  
“Yes, but  _ I _ can’t give you aspirin unless  _ he _ says it’s okay. I’m not a doctor.” Law led her to sit on the chair next to the doctor’s table before turning to Doctor Hilluluk, “Doc.”

 

“Ah? Oh? What?” The old man feigned surprise as he fidgeted, watching Law approach, “What? It’s  _ my _ turn now?”

 

“She has no fever, no visible head trauma, no nausea…” Law handed him the piece of paper and pointed towards the table, “Everything else including allergies is in the record. I’ve also filled out the slip for you. All you need is to add notes and sign it.”

 

“Okay, sonny.” Hiluluk patted Law on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up, “That’s the spirit, my boy!”

 

The student assistant nodded sarcastically before waving the doctor off. Doctor Hiluluk then took his tea and went over to where the girl was sitting. Luffy skipped towards Law happily as he walked towards the other end of the room.

 

“So  _ professional _ , my Trafalgar Law.” Luffy whispered with a smile as Law closed what seemed to be a record book, “I think I like watching you work.”

 

“Don’t you even start.” Law glared, but spoke lowly as he turned to go. Luffy moved closer and blocked Law’s way before wrapping his arms lightly around his human’s. The man flinched consciously, “Luffy.”

 

The demon’s eyes quickly scanned the room. All of Law’s three friends were still mumbling and elbowing each other. Over Law’s shoulder, Luffy could see Doctor Hiluluk talking to the girl. And the girl…The girl was the only one in the room glancing at them. Luffy pretended not to notice as he fluttered his eyelashes at Law.

 

“Just a hug.” Luffy smiled sweetly at his human, “No one’s looking.”

 

Before Law could say anything, the little demon pushed himself up and hugged his human tightly. From across the room, Luffy immediately shot the girl a heavy glance and caught her staring. She gasped, embarrassed, and pretended to pay attention to the doctor in front of her instead.

 

_ That’s right, little girl. This one’s taken. _

  
**-End of Chapter 10-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be up in the next couple of hours because I did that thing where I wrote one chapter too long that I had to split it.


	11. Demon’s Whisper

College had taught Law many things like resilience, persistence, and not caring whether ham, bacon, and potatoes among other things could be thrown together with dressing and be called a salad for dinner. What was more concerning to him was how Luffy had managed to convince him to share one big bowl between the two of them. It was a compromise in exchange for Luffy washing the dishes. Fine. It was a considerable compromise.

 

“Was it  _ that _ bad?” Luffy asked from the living room where he was sitting on the couch. There was the constantly changing sound of the TV as Luffy cycled through the channels.

 

“It was literally like  _ fall _ happened in the infirmary when I got there this morning.” Law complained loudly, his hands making gestures no one could see before he picked up the bowl and took two sporks before heading to the living room, “All thos _ e _ …  _ plant parts _ ! We had to sort  _ everything. _ God damn  _ everything _ !”

 

“I think he’s awesome, though.” Luffy yawned as he stretched.

 

“Sure, Dr. Hiluluk’s a nice man, but he can be crazy sometimes.” Law walked around the couch and Luffy immediately moved to the floor as soon as he saw his human approach and say, “Like today.”

 

“But crazy  _ is _ fun.” Luffy tilted his head, patting the space next to him on the floor. Law raised his eyebrow as his demon pushed the center table to one side for more space. Why were they having dinner on the floor? Law looked at the couch. Reasoning that it was easier to clean any spills on the floor than the couch, the man obliged and continued talking, “Not in the infirmary. Not at university. Not at work. Not always.”

 

Law had just leaned back against the couch when Luffy chuckled and crawled so he could sit in the space between Law’s long and slender legs. He sat with his back against the man’s chest, his head just under Law’s chin.

 

For a while, the human furrowed his eyebrows at this ridiculous arrangement before Luffy grabbed the large salad bowl and took one of the sporks Law was holding in his hand. The demon didn’t notice how it looked different from a spoon until it poked the bacon, which made him hum in amusement. Luffy held it up with an interested noise, staring at the cured bit of pork, chuckling to himself again before putting the whole thing into his mouth. He looked back into the bowl, chewing with a pleased murmur and impaled another bacon.

 

“Hey. Don’t just pick out the bacon.” Law moved his head so he could see better and stuck his spork on the bacon that Luffy had intended to take. The incubus gasped and could only follow with wide eyes and an open mouth as his human ate his bacon.

 

“Well...” Luffy looked into the bowl again and did his best not to pick out anything (“Argh, the bacon is calling me.”). He dug his spork into whatever this thing Law had put together and stuffed his mouth with it, “Why can’t people have fun in the infirmary, though?”

 

“The infirmary is meant for people who need medical attention is what I’m saying.” Law reached out for the remote to turn the TV off after noticing that Luffy had stopped on a channel featuring a reality show about people trying to outbitch each other in a house.

 

“Are you sure?” Luffy was talking with his mouth full.   
  


“Huh?” Law stuck his spork in the salad.

 

“Are you sure…” Luffy leaned back against Law, trying to find a more comfortable position as he wriggled against his human, sliding lower so that the bowl was resting on his stomach, “...That the infirmary isn’t for people who’d like to see  _ you _ ?”

 

“What?”

 

Law wanted to comment how Luffy’s current eating position was hazardous. He could choke on food he was going to swallow.

 

“Oh, Law,” Luffy sighed and poked on a piece of bacon onto his spork, “My beautiful, precious human.” The boy looked up from where he was slouched against Law’s body, “There are people who go to the infirmary just to see you.” 

 

So Luffy noticed. Law thought he didn’t because he was almost sure that Luffy would’ve thrown a bitch fit if he did. But now that it was mentioned, it would appear that the little demon had some form of self-control then. That or he didn’t care. How did he figure, though? Did someone tell him? That was likely. But it didn’t matter so Law just frowned at him. Luffy only smiled wider, lifting his spork in an attempt to feed the bacon to Law, “But you know that already, don’t you,  _ doctor _ ?”

 

Law held his frown but opened his mouth for the food being offered because it was  _ bacon _ , dammit. Luffy smiled even wider, excitedly feeding his human and watching him chew.

 

“Yeah, but…” Law swallowed and looked around, realizing they didn’t have anything to drink within reach, “They don’t go there and say ‘Yo, I wanna see you. Can we hang out?’” Law slightly pushed against Luffy who confusedly looked at him as he tried to get up while speaking, “They actually need to have or make up a reason to be there.”

 

“Where are you going?” Luffy blinked.

 

“Kitchen. Water.” Was Law’s quick reply.

 

“I’ll get it.” Luffy put the bowl on the floor and ran to the kitchen. Law followed him with his eyes thoughtfully as he picked up their horrible excuse for dinner. Staring into the bowl, the man clicked his tongue before carefully picking out a piece of bacon and then a piece of ham and putting it in his mouth.

 

“Still, they don’t go there because they’re really sick or anything.” Luffy’s approaching voice made him jump a little but his incubus made no comment of it as he handed the human a big glass of water,“Or is lovesickness a human disease?”

 

“It isn’t.” Law mumbled quietly before bringing the glass up to his mouth and drinking. Luffy, on the other hand, put the pitcher of water in his other hand down on the table he had moved to the side. 

 

“See? They go there to see you.” Law’s incubus returned to settle between Law’s legs, leaning back again so he could resume his previous slouching position,“Which is basically just a different twist on fun.”

 

Luffy didn’t sound affected by these people at all. Law was very close to being convinced that this supposed little shit from hell really didn’t care if other humans wanted him. And that was confusing because Law thought Luffy would throw a tantrum if anyone so much as tapped him. But listening to him now, maybe Law was overthinking things. Maybe he should stop trying to figure out Luffy’s possible reactions. How was he going to prevent possible disasters, though? 

 

“What does it matter?“ Law began, extending his arm to put the glass next to the pitcher on the table but figured maybe Luffy needed a drink, too, “Not like it bothers you.” 

 

Law offered the drink to Luffy.

 

“That they’re sick?” Luffy took the big glass in his hands and started drinking. While humming. Ah, this little idiot.

 

“No, that—” The human shook his head, “Never mind.”

 

“Huh?” Luffy pulled the glass away from his lips as he twisted to look at Law, “No, what is it?”

 

Law just shook his head after another sporkful of salad. Luffy put the now empty glass on the table before crawling back towards his human.

 

“Tell me.” He mumbled, taking the salad bowl away from Law and putting it on the table next to the glass, “What was it you were supposed to ask?”

 

Law had asked him a good number of questions over the past two days, but Luffy’s favorite so far had been “How are you?” He wasn’t sure why but Law inquiring about his welfare or opinion was something that made his feelings skip around his stomach. What he knew was that he really wouldn’t mind hearing his human ask anything similar.

 

“Law…” Luffy coaxed, tilting his head and Law just sighed in defeat.

 

Well, it wasn’t like he  _ cared _ anyway. Law was just genuinely curious. It wasn’t a question that was going to keep him up at night. Whether or not he actually got an answer wouldn’t matter. It was just one of those things that he wanted to ask for no good reason than wanting to know. It didn’t matter, really, but he was going to ask. Because Luffy wanted to hear it. Whether or not Luffy was affected by people liking his human was none of Law’s business.

 

“If it bothers you that there are people who try to come see me.”

 

Law’s voice had an annoyed curl in it, but that wasn’t what caught Luffy’s attention. It was how endlessly adorable Law was every time he looked away when talking about something that made him embarrassed. Luffy almost wished he’d be the only one responsible for his human having this expression.

 

“It doesn’t bother me.” Luffy said, sitting properly so he was facing Law while still sitting in between his legs, “Why?”

 

Well, that was news. Luffy wasn’t worried. Law had thought he was some kind of possessive, territorial creature that wouldn’t even want other people staring at what he called  _ his _ , in this case,  _ his human _ . Looked like Law was wrong about that. Or rather, he wasn’t right about many things regarding Luffy and himself. That was something he’d come to realize within the day. 

 

“No reason.” Law looked the other way, “Just curious.”

 

Wait, maybe his demon only cared if other demons were attracted to his human. With that being said, it wouldn’t be a big deal if other humans were attracted to Law. 

 

Or maybe Luffy liked that? Having more than one human? Do demons keep harems? Count Dracula had three women with him. Or more. Was that reliable information? Maybe Luffy was looking for threesomes? Law wasn’t fond of threesomes, to be honest. He’d rather have one person all to himself. He wasn’t fond of sharing or being shared. Not that he had any control of what Luffy wanted as an incubus anyway. 

 

So maybe demons  _ could _ love people, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be fond of other humans, too. They weren’t a monogamous bunch, these incubi. Maybe.

 

But it didn’t matter.

 

“You’re thinking I don’t care if someone steals you from me.” Luffy leaned forward and when Law turned to look at him, he found himself gazing deep into the demon’s eyes. In an instant, it felt too much and Law had to turn away.

 

It was unfair how Luffy had the better grasp of this feeling thoughts ability.

 

“Never mind. You can do what you want.” Law was frowning. He didn’t realize that. “I was just curious.”

 

“Fine.” Luffy huffed with a tone of finality, “I’ll do what I want.”

 

And then the demon crawled forward, leaning on Law’s chest as he drew his face closer.

 

“Now, look at me.”

 

Law refused to move. The demon grunted and shifted so he could push himself up on his knees and cup Law’s cheeks to force him to look.

 

“Don’t you even start thinking I don’t care because I care a whole fucking lot.” Luffy was trying not to squish Law’s face together so he could kiss his lips when they turned into a cute pout. He was trying to make a point. This wasn’t the time to be all lovey-dovey with his human.

 

“I would break someone’s neck for you, Law. That’s how much I care.” Luffy tried to look serious. He hoped it was working. “See, if they try anything shitty, anything I don’t like… You know, touching you without proper reason, for instance... You can be sure I  _ will _ put them in their place.” Luffy squeezed Law’s face quickly for the sake of satisfying his itch before he let go and sat back properly and sighed, “I was going to break that girl’s arm if she touched you earlier.”

 

“Luffy…!” Law leaned forward a bit because demons weren’t supposed to go breaking human body parts for a reason so shallow. And yet Law felt some sort of warm satisfaction in his throat upon hearing that. He wasn’t sure what it was. Probably bacon.

 

“But she wasn’t a threat to either of us, Law.” Luffy said again, smiling a bit, “They aren’t.”

 

There must be something wrong. Law felt dumb. A twisted kind of happy, but dumb. He really wasn’t sure why he felt this way, though. He just asked a question. Curiously. No particular reason behind it. He did feel secure that Luffy wasn’t going to drag him into a threesome or whatever, but it wasn’t that big of a deal, was it?

 

So why was his face heating up?

 

“Are you interested in her?” Luffy lightly touched Law’s thigh, “In any of them?”

 

Was he worried about how Law felt about other people? Couldn’t he feel thoughts? Should Law ask and get to the bottom of everything?

 

“No.” He said lowly. Why was he feeling so silly?

 

“Then they’re all just casualties of fate.” Luffy almost laughed, slapping Law’s thigh playfully, making the man jerk his leg, raise his eyebrow, and ask, “They are just  _ what _ of fate?”

 

“Casualties.” Luffy said simply with a shrug, “They don’t bother me as long as they don’t touch you unnecessarily or do things to try to steal you.” The demon reached for the bowl and looked at the two sporks stuck into the mediocre salad Law had tried to put together, “They’re already so sad, you know. Poor little things can only look at you.” Luffy took one spork and started stabbing the salad until he had a bunch of potatoes, bacon, and ham stuck on the ends and threatening to fall off, “You know why?” Luffy lifted the fork slightly, more bits dropping as he went, “Because you’re  _ mine _ .”

 

By the time he was moving the spork towards Law’s mouth, there were only three bits of ham and some potatoes stuck on the end. 

 

“So can we get back to eating now?” He brought it up to feed his human, “You need nutrition, you frail creature.”

 

Small bits of potato and dressing started falling from the spork and onto Law’s clothes. Luffy followed the small trail with his eyes. As soon as the man bit the food at the end of the spork, the little demon then stuck the utensil back into the bowl, bent over, and—what, wait, what—used his _ mouth  _ to pick up the little morsels on Law’s clothes and… And... What the fucking hell was happening and why did the unreliability of sporks suddenly felt like the best thing to happen to mankind? 

 

There was a pretty little demon bending over and eating off Law’s torso. He might need a while to process that. Breath was scarce and maybe underrated compared to the feeling of Luffy’s teeth scraping against the material of his clothes. The boy’s pink little tongue then gently lapped off the white dressing, which made Law question the existence of fate and chance because out of everything in the goddamn spectrum, why did this salad dressing have to be  _ that  _ color? 

 

“Sorry, about the spill.” Luffy straightened and god damn, the way he licked more of that white abomination off the corner of his lips as he spoke made Law’s dick twitch so hard and fast, it might as well had opened his zipper, “My turn to be curious, though. Do you like it when they call you doctor?”

 

“W-what?” Law blinked, willing his attention back to the present and away from the images of Luffy kneeling in front of him and how their current position was being more provocative than it really was, “No. Not particularly.” He grabbed one spork for himself. For distraction. Luffy could probably smell arousal. “I’m not a doctor.”

 

“Yet.” Luffy watched him poke at the salad. 

 

“Yeah... Yet.” Law nodded quickly. He was suddenly not hungry.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing. Just... thinking of med school.” Law shook his head, grabbing a spoonful of his ridiculous potato salad so he could feed himself. It was the taste of Luffy’s mouth that he craved for, though.    
  


Fuck, no. Stop thinking.  _ Stop thinking! _

 

“I just remembered.” Law mumbled in an effort to change the topic and his train of thought, “You never told me how you made it to Corrida.”

 

“I took a cab.” Luffy replied almost immediately, grabbing the other spork and digging into the horrible salad at the same time. He wasn’t expecting Law to ask that. The cab was an okay experience, but the payment part was not.

 

“Excuse me?” Law raised an eyebrow. Did he just say—

 

“I took a cab.”

 

Luffy wasn’t looking up at Law but he was sure that the human did  _ not _ look convinced. Law did say that it would upset him if Luffy stole anything, but did “not paying the taxi driver” count as stealing? It didn’t right? At least not on a level that he was aware of. He didn’t know he had to pay for it. Luffy was reminded of that stupid red pigeon person. What was his name? Burst Ass? Whatever. That fucking  _ idiot _ .

 

Law’s eyes narrowed.

 

No. Luffy couldn’t have possibly taken a cab. Could he? If he did, what did he tell the driver? And more importantly, where did he get money? Law searched his memories if he’d given Luffy even any spare change and came up with none. Did he get money from Sanji? Wait, did he  _ steal _ money from Sanji!? Or did Zoro give him money? Did Nami loan him money with interest? No, Nami wouldn’t do that because Law was already paying her and she would not want to damage “customer relations”.

 

“So you paid for the cab  _ how _ ?”

 

Luffy just shrugged as nonchalantly as his stiff shoulders could possibly manage while he told his entire system to chew and swallow as naturally as possible.

 

“I said I didn’t know I had to pay. And he drove off.” 

 

Okay, now Luffy was either making things up or covering up something based on how Luffy was trying to eat as much of this awful salad as he could. Such a terrible liar. Whatever his demon was hiding or not saying, Law was going to get to the bottom of it. And if he found out Luffy stole from anyone at all, he wasn’t going to be happy.

 

“Luffy, that’s not possible.” Law let go of his spork and looked sternly at his demon, “What did you do?”

 

“I dirn’to hrnything!” Luffy was talking with his mouth full but he was still shoving more potato salad in his mouth because that was convincing, right? Even if Law found out, Luffy would be forgiven because he ate all of this salad that he put so much effort into mixing, right? That was love.  _ Love _ !

 

“Did you hurt the man?” Law’s eyes narrowed at the demon who forced the food down his throat in one gulp before answering.

 

“No!” Luffy shook his head vigorously, “He asked me to pay, but I really, really had no money so by the end of the conversation, he just... Didn’t ask for money!”

 

Honestly, Luffy had no idea what he just said. But his human looked like he was thinking it over. 

 

_ Stop asking, Law. Stop. Asking. Take it and go! _

 

“Didn’t ask for…”

 

It still didn’t make sense to Law. This wasn’t an era that catered fondly to bartering of goods and servi—wait. 

 

“He didn’t ask for money?” Law wasn’t really talking to Luffy but the boy nodded quickly as he ate spoonful after spoonful of the haphazardly put together potato salad. It was his effort to be  _ nice _ . And if ever Law found out what happened, Luffy was going to say something like, “Okay, but I ate all of the salad so you didn’t have to! I love you!” That or he was going to make amends with sex or a blowjob.

 

But the salad was the least of Law’s concerns as he kept on blinking thoughtfully. The driver didn’t ask for  _ money _ in particular. So did he ask for something  _ else _ ? Or did Luffy  _ offer _ something else? What on earth did he have to offer, though? He had no gadgets. No jewelry. No valuables. He was just… An incubus… Unless…

 

_ Unless _ .

 

Hell, no. He wouldn’t. Luffy fucking wouldn’t.

 

Would he?

 

“So did you…” Law was hesitant. He felt like such an asshole with his line of thinking, but what if Luffy actually tried to pay the man with… Urgh. It pissed him off just thinking of it. Because? Because sexually transmitted diseases, that’s why!

 

“Luffy…” Law said again and Luffy just went “hmm?” in acknowledgement, “Did you pay with…  _ Something else _ …?”   
  
The little demon sat up with a confused expression, looking like he was trying to recall something, but couldn’t. He pouted for a while and tilted his head before making a small noise and turning to Law. 

 

What was his human talking about? Did he know? Did he know he paid the man in large amounts of  _ fear _ ?

 

Law looked worried, though. And kind of… hurt? Okay, why? Why was his human making this face of betrayal? What had Luffy done or had not done? What was it? What?  _ What _ ?

 

“Something else? Like what?” Luffy cocked his head to the other side, curiously tapping the spork against his lower lip, “Does the materialistic human society accept anything else other than  _ money _ ?”

 

“Then how did you let the man agree that you…” Law was trying to tell himself to eat some salad to look normal but couldn’t because the idea of someone else getting to fuck Luffy before he did while they were in contract might make him throw up, ”Like, in exchange… I mean…”

 

Okay, now Law wasn’t making sense. 

 

“What do you even—” 

 

And  _ then _ it hit him. He just suddenly  _ knew _ . Luffy dropped his spork. 

 

“Oh.”

 

The human took a deep breath as Luffy leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest as he squinted at Law.

 

“Ohhh, I see where you’re getting at.”

 

Law didn’t always feel guilty, but he knew guilt when he felt it. It crawled hurriedly from the soles of his feet and then lingered in his stomach as if to remind him that he was an asshole. Luffy was looking somewhat disappointedly at him. Law decided to focus his attention on the salad and “feign ignorance”

 

“What?”

 

The salad that Law was using as an anchor for his attention suddenly disappeared as Luffy grabbed it and put it back on the table. But Law didn’t even have the guts to follow it with his eyes. Luffy crawled closer again, frowning and pouting and making other weird faces that made Law want to say sorry. But he was just asking a question. Couldn’t he wonder?

 

_ Well, it was a stupid fucking thing to wonder about, Trafalgar Law. Dick question. Shame on you. _

 

“You thought I offered to have sex with him, didn’t you?”

 

The demon hit the nail on its goddamn head and split it open.

 

“I…!”

 

Law wanted to say “I did not” but the sentence wasn’t coming out. Dammit, brain. Dammit, body. Luffy leaned back so he could sit on his haunches and put his hands on his waist.

 

“Law, just because I’m an incubus does not mean I’ll just have sex with anyone, you know.”

 

Well, that applied to each and every creature in the world maybe, but Law didn’t know right off the bat. Or more accurately, he didn’t have enough… information? Facts?  Knowledge?

 

Trust?

 

“I didn’t say anything like that.”

 

Law thought his response was so shitty, he had failed the entire human race. While it was true that he didn’t say anything like that, he  _ was _ thinking it, though. He should just say sorry. Really.

 

“I should be pissed and offended about how you generalize about incubi, Law.” Luffy started talking before Law could draft a proper apology in his head. And yeah, the demon had the right to be pissed. He had all the reason to be annoyed and Law had no fucking rebuttal to that.

 

Until Luffy leaned forward and started licking his lips.

 

“But all I can think about right now is how my beautiful human is jealous.”

 

Oh, hell.

 

“Luffy, I’m  _ not _ jealous.”

 

Trafalgar Law did  _ not _ get jealous. What for? What about? He wasn’t jealous.  _ Concerned _ was what he was. About… About diseases. He was not bothered at all by the idea of someone else on top of Luffy at the backseat of a god damn taxi and he was not having imaginary scenarios of cracking said taxi driver’s skull because who  _ the fuck _ —ah, because public indecency. And... And diseases. 

 

Well, Law could make it look like an accident. The cracking of the skull and—Argh,  _ no _ !

 

Luffy could sleep with whoever the fuck he wanted to. That’s right. Law didn’t give two shits. Did not give a shit. Gave  _ no shit _ . Whatever. Luffy should just never tell Law “I love you” ever again in his entire fucking existence if he considered being with other men. If Luffy ever had sex with someone other than Law while still being bonded then the demon better enjoy sucking blood from  _ that man’s neck _ instead. And he’d better enjoy feeding from Law’s  _ arm _ from then on. Yeah, Luffy could suck blood from his wrist. It had a pulse. Deal with it. What did it matter? Find someone else. Law wasn’t going to settle.

 

Fuck, he was getting pissed. Bottomline: he wasn’t jealous. Not one bit. Just concerned. Really concerned. And insulted, maybe?

 

“Yes, you’re jealous.” Luffy whispered again, “And that’s making me sick. We need to do something about that.”

 

Law hadn’t even noticed when Luffy had shifted on all fours so that he had his palms on Law’s chest, his knees on the floor, and his legs barely touching Law’s crotch. 

 

“No, you’re not.” Law’s voice came out a bit breathier than he’d permit as he sternly tried to command his blood to go anywhere else but his dick, “So no, I don’t.”

 

Luffy just chuckled naughtily at that, licking his lips again as he leaned forward, his chest barely brushing against Law’s. God damn it, he had to stop doing that. The logical thing to do was to push Luffy away, but Law’s arms had fallen limp and unwilling to resist on the floor. Yeah, fucking  _ thank you _ , nervous system.

 

“Yes, I  _ am _ sick,  _ doctor _ .” Luffy huffed, stressing the last word so that it lingered over and over in Law’s head, “I am  _ sick _ of you being so fucking judgmental of my demon race. What the fuck do you think I am? A sex machine?”

 

Was the incubus trying to sound pissed? It wasn’t registering. What was he getting at? Did he want Law to  _ prove _ that, yes, Luffy  _ could _ be a sex machine. Because  _ he was an incubus _ , god damn it. Maybe they could try to have sex until Luffy was hoarse from either screaming Law’s name or taking Law’s dick in his mouth. For science.

 

Wait, no, no, no! Where did  _ that _ come from? 

 

Law’s current mindset most certainly had nothing to do with the returning images of Luffy licking food off Law’s torso. And it definitely didn’t mean anything that they were both naked in Law’s imagination.

 

“Well, I  _ can _ be one for you. Just for you. A sex machine, that is.” Luffy’s head dipped with a short, muffled laugh as he licked the mark he had made on the side of his human’s throat. Law just cursed underneath his breath because he was totally on the losing end of this feeling thoughts game. Luffy nuzzled against the crook of Law’s neck, “I wouldn’t mind being fucked to oblivion if it’s you doing it to me.”

 

Something at the back of Law’s mind was kicking him to go for it. Fucking  _ go for it _ because he needed to feed Luffy anyway so why not have some nice steamy sex on the living room floor?

 

Because it was technically their first time having sex—Law’s changing room vision did not count—and Law preferred doing it on the goddamn bed.

 

But fucking on the floor was  _ so hot _ .

 

“You generalizing that I’d have sex with just about anyone makes me sick.” Luffy spoke again. Law was so damn lost in his thoughts that he didn’t know what his demon was saying before that sentence so he just groaned in response. He hadn’t even realized that his hands were running up and down Luffy’s thighs already as his little demon kept on speaking, “So take care of me. Take care of me  _ right now _ .” 

 

Did that mean “bend me over and have your way with me?” Because that’s what Law’s brain was telling him it meant. 

 

“Now that we’re in this relationship—” 

 

“Contract.” Law was quick to correct, almost out of instinct.

 

That caught Luffy off-guard for a moment there. He was pretty sure he  _ had _ Law in the palm of his hand. But  _ where _ in the depths of hell was this human getting this every damn shred of resistance? Was it a core part of his nature to be so stubborn?

 

But Law  _ was _ breaking. Luffy was sure. All that was needed was a push in the right direction, a smash in the right spot. Humans were frail. Law was human. Therefore, Law was frail.

 

“ _ Relationship _ , Law.” Luffy made sure his insistent correction ran a fiery trail across the man’s spine. Law’s shuddering told him he’d done a good job. So Luffy leaned closer, careful so that their chests still barely touched as he whispered hotly in Law’s ear, “I  _ am _ your boyfriend, aren’t I?”

 

_ Come on. Snap. Break. Give in. _

 

“Luffy, that’s… That’s just what we  _ tell _ people...” 

 

Fucking  _ damn it _ . What was this human? What was he!? Was it Law’s pride that’s fighting Luffy on its own? Was Law’s pride set on automatic aggression or something? How was he still talking? His head was thrown back and leaning on the couch and Luffy doubted he knew he was staring at the ceiling at this point. Law was probably having images in his head by now, thinking of the many things he’d like to do to and with Luffy. He was barely breathing from sheer desire anymore. And more importantly, Law was  _ hard _ . If Luffy touched him  _ there _ , he’d  _ shatter _ , but his incubus’ pride decided that was his last resort. He was getting Law to break without going for his cock.

 

“Luffy, we aren’t really—”

 

“Aren’t really  _ together”  _ was what Law was supposed to say, but honestly, he meant “ _ Straddle me _ , you hot little thing.” It wasn’t coming out right, though. None of his thoughts were coming out properly. The tug of war in his brain had never been this damn complicated, painful, frustrating, and senseless. Why couldn’t Luffy  _ feel his thoughts _ when it counted? Like now? Fucking idiot demon.

 

“Yes, we are.” Luffy was licking between Law’s earrings because he knew his human liked that. His small gasps were good enough proof to keep Luffy whispering thickly and hotly against Law’s now very sensitive ear, “I’ve decided that we are,  _ doctor _ .”

 

“D-don’t call me that...”

 

Translation: I’m hard and my dick  _ hurts _ , you idiot. 

 

Why was Luffy not getting this?  _ Why _ ? Moreover, why wasn’t Law just taking over? How difficult was it to grab him and pin him to the floor? Luffy would  _ obviously _ like it.

 

“Why is it okay for other people to call you doctor and not me?”

 

Oh, mother of all that is holy and cursed, Law couldn’t even see him but he could imagine Luffy doing that cute little pout. And that just made Law think of those lips stretched around his dick. How was he making these ridiculous connections even?!

 

“Be-Because—”

  
Translation: I can’t breathe. Fucking  _ kiss me _ .

 

And Luffy got that apparently,  _ finally _ , because his mouth immediately closed over Law’s, making the human moan in sheer ecstasy. Law pushed himself up eagerly as Luffy gripped his shoulders for support. He could feel the demon’s tongue sliding into his mouth, but Law just pushed his tongue back so he could explore Luffy first. And, oh, the glorious taste and warmth of him was so rewarding especially when he kept on moaning into the kiss. So encouraging.

 

Law’s hand grabbed Luffy by the back of his neck so he could tilt him to a more comfortable angle. Luffy gasped in surprise, but didn’t resist. He just spilled more delicious sounds as Law’s hands ran through his incubus’ hair like he was an inch away from just losing control, from gripping the strands tightly. Luffy wanted that. Luffy wanted that  _ so bad _ .

 

_ Do it, Law. Fucking  _ do it _. _

 

But he didn’t. God damn, his human was so bad at feeling thoughts!

 

Their breaths were good as gone when Luffy pulled away so he could look down on Law who stared right back up at him. Luffy’s hair was falling over his face, his eyes deep and dark with pupils blown, lips glistening wet from the kissing, and mouth open to catch breath after breath that Law wanted to take away still. 

 

“I think I have a fever.” Luffy smirked and shifted so he was now straddling Law and yes, god fucking damn it, finally, finally,  _ finally _ , “Won’t you have a look at me, doctor?”

 

Law’s hands immediately held Luffy’s thighs and pulled him down closer before those same tattooed hands slid back to grab the demon by the ass. Luffy moaned loudly, jerking forward in surprise and Law almost kicked the table nearby as soon as he felt their clothed erections brushing against each other.

 

“God damn.” Law’s hands slid up and under Luffy’s shirt, feeling his sides, and the heat of his skin. 

 

“See, doctor? I’m hot and I’m burning.” Luffy leaned forward, pushing his chest against Law’s and grinding against him, “Do something about it, doctor.  _ Please. _ ”

 

And Law just  _ growled _ with so much thirst and hunger that Luffy thought he’d explode in desire. His mouth latched onto Luffy’s wiry neck, sucking immediately like he was returning the favor from when Luffy fed the first time. A deep shudder ran through the little demon as he kept on grinding against Law. His head threw back, moaning loudly and breathlessly, fingers twisting into Law’s shirt.

 

“Ah…! Ah…! Doctor…!”

 

The man grabbed Luffy’s body, not knowing where his hands landed, but knowing that he could check later if he wanted to because his fingers were going to leave bruises. Luffy drew a deep breath. Law didn’t understand how he translated that as his demon begging for more but, yeah, he could give more. The man trailed up and down Luffy’s neck, determined to leave more marks like it was going to scare other people away from his demon.

 

Law’s hands slid down Luffy’s back, around his hips, over his thighs, pushing up his tight little skirt…

 

Wait.

 

Skirt?

 

Law pulled back. 

 

Fucking hell, maybe he was lacking oxygen because he didn’t remember having Luffy in a nurse’s outfit on his lap! 

 

And yet there he was, flushed and panting with half lidded eyes as he sat on top of Law. The first button of his top was undone and his skirt had hitched up so high above his thigh and his erection was just, good god, heavenly sinful piece of shit, what was this?  _ What was this _ !?

 

“L-Luffy…!” Law gasped as the hot little thing tried to lean forward into another open-mouthed kiss. His tongue was already out. Good gracious heaven  _ fuck _ .

 

“Hmm? What is it?” Luffy tilted his head, blinked, and looked around, “Oh, an infirmary?”

 

Infirmary? What infirmary!? 

 

Law looked around as well. Fucking hell, this  _ was _ an infirmary! Law was wearing a white coat, sitting on a swivel chair in front of a desk with Luffy on his lap. The small clinic wasn’t anything like the one in the university, but it was, in fact,  _ a clinic _ . The room was quiet and dark with only the dim table lamp as the only source of light. And that didn’t do much except interestingly highlight all of Luffy’s features.

 

Stop, stop,  _ stop _ . Law wanted to shake his head. That wasn’t the concern! Where was this place? What about the people who could be around? The owner of the clinic? A guard? What about getting caught?

 

“Oh, I’m a nurse.” Luffy said, looking down on his clothes and—sweet fucking eternal damnation—ran his hands up and down his body like he was studying how it felt against his skin. Law swallowed audibly hard. Luffy’s eyes flickered towards his human, a sly grin creeping across his lips as he spoke, “I didn’t really think you were this naughty.”

 

“Luffy, why are we here?!” Law tried to sound angry but all he did was almost  _ croak _ at best, “Why did you—!” 

 

“Why did  _ I _ ?” Luffy took Law’s hands and placed it on his thighs, pulling it up against the hem of the skirt Luffy was wearing, “Why did  _ you _ , Law?” Luffy leaned forward, guiding Law’s tattooed hands so he could grab his ass. Law just closed his eyes and moaned.

 

“ _ You _ brought us here.” Luffy whispered, trailing kisses along Law’s jaw as his slender fingers started running up and down Law’s torso, “ _ This _ is what you want. All I did was help you.”

 

He didn’t. Law didn’t remember doing anything like that. It was absurd.

 

“N-no, I didn’t… I...” Law wanted to turn his head away, but couldn’t. He couldn’t even remove his fingers from Luffy’s nice ass. All he could do was lift his heavy eyelids so he could look at his sexy little demon. He was going to hell. He was so fucking going to hell.

 

“Yes, you did.” Luffy whispered so lowly that his breath could have formed the words, “Because somewhere deep down, you want to fuck me  _ here _ …” Luffy slowly guided one of Law’s hands so it slid from his ass and back to his thigh, “...On your very own chair, in front of your table, as your skimpy-clothed nurse screaming your name in a dark infirmary.” 

 

Law watched Luffy guide his own tattooed hand so that it slid up across Luffy’s stomach, to his chest, to his neck, and then up to his cheek. Law’s heart was racing so madly, it was probably going to smash his ribs and run away.

 

“This is where you want to have me, Law.” Luffy’s smile was so innocent but naughty that Law just felt himself go  _ harder _ . Fucking hell, was this what he really wanted? Really? He’d never considered. Never given it any thought. Not once. Or at least not any time that he was aware? Really? Or did he? Oh, god, Law was a sick, perverted man.

 

“B-but…” The sane side of Law’s brain was rearing its head because it  _ could _ , “N-nurses don’t even  _ wear _ that kind of—”

 

“Yet here we are.” Luffy moved his head slowly and Law’s eyes almost fell out of its sockets as the incubus opened his mouth so slightly and slid Law’s finger between his lips, into his mouth.

 

“Nnnggh.” Law motioned to grab onto the armrest, but he ended up digging his fingers into Luffy’s ass, which then made the demon moan.

 

It was so fucking confusing. One of Law’s eyes screwed shut while the other tried its darnest to stay open so he could watch Luffy suck on his finger. And he was so good at it, too. His lips were puckered so nicely as the digit went in and out of his mouth in such a slick manner with wet sounds in between. Luffy  _ never _ broke eye contact even for a second. It was a miracle that Law didn’t come right then.

 

“T-take us back then…!” Said Law’s sane side of the brain that his throbbing erection hated so much, “I… I don’t want to…!”

 

Luffy pulled Law’s finger out with a pop. Good god, Law wanted to shove his dick to replace that finger.

 

“Well, that’s easy.” Luffy said playfully, letting Law’s wet finger slide down his neck, “All you have to do is stop liking this.” 

 

“Wh-what…?” Law wasn’t really sure if he was hearing things right anymore. He could see the marks he had made on Luffy’s neck and suddenly wanted to suck and lick on his skin so he could add more.

 

“Admit you don’t like this.” Luffy was saying again, letting go of Law’s hand that dropped right on top of his exposed thigh. “Imagine something else.” The small incubus inched closer, and the chair wheeled a bit back, creaking as it did. But Law wouldn’t probably care if they ended up rolling off a cliff with how his hand was moving on its own and caressing Luffy’s soft thigh.

 

“If you do that…” Luffy traced a finger on Law’s hardness that was painfully trapped in his pants. The man shivered, gasping and moaning at the same time as his head threw back. Luffy snickered, “...This vision will disappear all on its own.”

 

Disappear? All of this? Law could… If he…But he was so damn aroused right now. Luffy in that tight little nurse’s uniform was too much. Law could tear it apart or fuck him while wearing it. The idea of the buttons coming of with one quick tug was delightful, but the thought of what Luffy would look like in a disheveled uniform was just as tempting. Law could bend him over the desk, fuck him on any or all of the beds, or just make him ride his dick on this chair. All in that outfit. Over and over again. 

 

And Luffy would love every single second of it.

 

Shit.

 

The logical side of Law’s brain had given up. That or his hormones had probably beaten it to a pulp so it couldn’t voice out its opinion anymore. Law’s vision was hazy and it was taking all that he had to keep breathing and not rip Luffy’s clothes open. But the way he was looking down on Law was eating at the man’s sanity so much so that he couldn’t really decide what to do first. Kiss? Grab? Touch? Fuck immediately?

 

Luffy just kept sitting there like some glorious reward for Law once he’d decided. He thought back again on how people said that demons came with everything a man wanted, not looking scary or evil at all. And maybe those were true because right now, Luffy was everything Law wanted—innocent, naughty, vocal, mysterious, willing, headstrong, obedient, stubborn, selfish, selfless. And  _ his _ . Most importantly,  _ all his _ . He was a mix of things no other person could be. And Law had him all to himself. What else would he want?

 

“Luffy…” Law reached for him, and Luffy gently brought that tattooed hand to the side of his face. His skin was smooth. His cheek was soft. He was so invitingly warm.

 

“Yes?” the incubus whispered and Law missed the little hiss that came afterwards.

 

“I…” Law was going crazy. He was losing himself. All he could see was Luffy now. 

 

“What is it?” Luffy asked again, licking his lips slowly and carefully, “Tell me.”

 

The warmth in Law’s stomach just burst into flames, consuming his sanity faster than any disease known to man.

 

“I… I want you.” the human finally admitted, gasping needily, “I… I fucking want you so bad...”

 

Those words sounded more pleasurable now than in any of Luffy’s dreams. It was one of the many things he had longed for to happen so badly in the two weeks that he had stalked Law. He wanted to hear it so much that it just made him close his eyes blissfully and  _ moan _ .

 

“Luffy…” Law pulled him closer, “Kiss me.”

 

Oh dear god, was he going to give instructions? Yes. Fucking  _ yes _ .

 

“Anything.” Luffy gasped as he leaned forward, their lips meeting immediately, fervently, hungrily. 

 

Law’s hands were  _ everywhere _ . Luffy never thought his body could feel this warm. He’d never wanted a human to crave for him this much and now that he had experienced it, he was probably going to be trapped in this feeling forever. And he didn’t care. Law’s tongue in his mouth was the heavenly glory that demons weren’t meant to have. Sex with him was probably going to be so mind-blowing that Luffy might not want to go back to being a lone demon again. Law was his gift, his blessing, his light, his life, his everything. Fuck his own name. Who needed that when he had this man pulling him closer, tugging against his clothes, fingers undoing the buttons of the uniform Law himself had wanted him to wear?

 

“Law…” Luffy gasped breathlessly as soon as he felt Law mouthing against the skin on his chest. The chair was creaking with their movements and they had wheeled themselves away from the table and closer to the wall. But that was of no importance compared to Law’s teeth against his skin.

 

“L-Law…” Luffy ran his fingers through Law’s hair, “Doctor… Mmmhh…”

 

Law was sucking marks against his skin, humming, moaning, groaning, grunting. Whatever noises he made sounded only like pleasure to Luffy. It was almost hypnotic to think that it was  _ Luffy _ whom this beautiful human was currently holding with lust and desire. If Law told him to jump into an open fire, he would, if that would make him happy.

 

“You taste so good.” Law said against his skin and Luffy moaned loudly at that remark because it was  _ Law _ who said it. He arched forward, his uniform falling off his shoulders. Luffy couldn’t even wonder when on earth Law had undone the buttons enough for the man to be licking Luffy’s nipples unhindered. 

 

Law’s mouth. Law’s tongue. Law’s breath. Law’s hands. Law’s fingers.  _ Law _ .

 

“Fuck, Luffy.” the man gasped, licking his lips before trailing kisses up towards Luffy’s neck, “You even sound so good.”

 

Law dove back down and started sucking on the base of Luffy’s neck. Luffy couldn’t breathe. He could hear his own heartbeat. He was going to explode.

 

“Please.” the demon whimpered, writhing on Law’s lap like he’d forgotten he was an incubus, “Please, doctor. Please.”

 

The chair creaked and moved again as Luffy started thrusting his hips against Law’s. There was so much need in his system, but all he could do was wait for what his human wanted. How was he to function? What was he to do? Law had to tell him what to do. He  _ had _ to. Luffy wanted to hear it,  _ needed _ to hear it.

 

“A-ahh!”

 

The sudden tug on his hair was unexpected, but welcome. Luffy’s head threw back, reveling in the feeling of the tight grip on his hair and the pull on his scalp. And then there was that hot mouth on his skin again. It was almost like Law would never finish marking him and Luffy was fine with that. It wasn’t like he belonged to anyone else anyway.

 

Three successive knocks on the door made Law pull away quickly. 

 

“Excuse me? Anyone home!?” a female voice from the outside echoed into the room. Law looked around, startled.

 

No. 

 

No, no, no, he was going to snap out of the vision. It was going to end. Luffy can’t have that. No, not now. After all his efforts, he couldn’t have anyone ruining this for the both of them.

 

“Ignore it.” Luffy leaned forward and whispered lowly and lovingly into his ear, “Don’t listen. It isn’t important.” 

 

“B-but…” Law began, his eyes slowly closing as Luffy licked the shell of his ear, “Mmm… Luffy…”

 

“Yeah… That’s right. I’m here.” Luffy pressed his lips on Law’s temple, breathing in his human’s wonderful scent as he whispered against his hot skin, “Nothing’s more important than this. You have me right here.”

 

Luffy brought his mouth over Law’s again. He knew full well how his kisses made the man weak and lost and he was going to use that to his advantage because he  _ could _ . Law responded eagerly, their tongues dancing as needy sighs escaped in between. His human tasted like the delight of sunshine, the strength of thunder, the forbidden fruit that no one was supposed to touch.

 

“Don’t you want me anymore?” Luffy whispered against Law’s mouth.

 

“I… I want you…” Law sighed, his mouth opening needily as he looked up at Luffy and if that wasn’t marvelously satisfying then nothing was, “Luffy, I want you…” 

 

“Then listen to me.” Luffy licked his lower lip before gently sucking on it. Law moaned again. Luffy drank it all. “Listen only to me. Hear only my voice, Law.”

 

“Excuse me!!” said the insistent girl outside. Law fidgeted and if Luffy wasn’t busy, he’d have quickly snapped her neck in two and jumped back to business. But Law’s mind was too strong to be left alone. He should learn to just give in, damn it.

 

“What is—”

 

“Ssshhh…” Luffy breathed in deeply, trying his best not to let his irritation get the better of him, “Don’t listen to her.”

 

“But…”

 

“What’s her voice compared to me screaming for more, hm?” Luffy spoke as convincingly soft as he could, slowly undoing the buttons of Law’s shirt, “I want you, doctor.”

 

“I… want you, too...” Law moaned, leaning back and letting Luffy’s hands wander from his neck and down across his chest, “So bad…”

 

“And I want you inside me.” Luffy was practically begging. It was true, though. He really  _ did _ want Law inside him although he wanted for them to play around a bit more. But he had matters to attend to. 

 

“I need you to fill me up like no one else can.”

 

Luffy’s hands slid to the man’s sides, his thumbs finding Law’s nipples and teased them with circular motions.

 

“F-fuck.” Law gasped and shuddered, “That’s… That feels… Nngh...” 

 

Oh, dear god, Law was reveling in ecstasy. He was almost good as gone and lost in Luffy’s touch. Just a little more pushing. That shitty girl outside better have left or she was knocking on death’s door. 

 

“Please, doctor…?” Luffy asked so temptingly innocent that he felt Law’s dick twitch in his pants, “Take me. Make me yours.”

 

“If someone’s in there, please help me!”

 

And that was it. “Help” was the magic word, it seemed, and Law just  _ snapped out of it _ . Luffy wanted to burn the whole world as the infirmary faded and they were back in the living room.

 

The lights were off. 6They had made it to the couch somehow and an already shirtless Law was sitting on it. On his Lap was a very disgruntled Luffy who was leaning back, shirt slowly sliding down from being pushed up to his chin. Law blinked, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room as he looked around like he had forgotten where his own door was. And it would’ve been better that way, Luffy thought.

 

“Someone’s at the door.” Law mumbled breathlessly, looking around for his shirt. No shit. Luffy huffed in disappointment, not bothering to properly push down his shirt. He had worked  _ so hard _ to get Law to that point of horny insanity. And then just one stupid fucking human screwed it up for him. Why!? How!? What could possibly be more important than getting himself fucked by Law!? Was she on fire!? Even if she was, why did that concern either of them!? 

 

“Excuse me?!” the girl knocked again, louder this time, “Please!?”

 

“Oh,  _ shut up _ !” Luffy hissed towards the door, eyes turning crimson, and fangs protruding. Law immediately grabbed him by the arm to keep him from lunging at the knocking stranger.

 

“Luffy!” the man shook his angry little demon with furious red eyes, “Hey.  _ Hey _ . We can just… We can just continue after I get the door, okay?”

 

The demon growled at him. This idiot did not know how difficult it was go get past his ridiculously strong mind. 

 

“Come on, don’t be silly.” Law pressed a kiss on his forehead, a thumb running across the marks Law had made on his demon’s neck, “I still want you.”

 

And that seemed to dissipate some of Luffy’s anger. Sometimes he hated Law’s effect on him. He was a demon whose feeding was interrupted. He was supposed to  _ still _ be full-force furious, but Law kissed him on the lips and okay, maybe, he wasn’t  _ that _ angry anymore, but still…

 

“Now, off.” Law patted Luffy’s thigh. Luffy was pissed again.

 

“I’m going to kill her.” The incubus growled at no one in particular as he crawled off Law’s lap so he could sit and pout on one corner of the couch, “I’m going to fucking kill her and feed her carcass to the monsters of Punk Hazard.”

 

“No, you’re not.” Law put on his shirt as he walked towards the door, “You’re going to sit there like a good boy and I’m going to fuck you when I get back.”

 

Luffy’s anger swallowed itself in favor of being surprised and strangely aroused. He was  _ not _ expecting those words from Law. But okay. Okay, he could wait. He could maybe  _ not _ kill the female human hellspawn. But Law better make good on his promise or he was hunting this girl down and literally feed her to anything that wanted to consume human flesh.

 

Law shook his head to reorient himself and get the image of a breathless, needy Luffy off his head. He could get back to that later. Law leaned forward to look into the peephole. Who the fuck would actually come banging at his door at night? True enough, there was a distressed blonde pigtailed girl in a dress standing right outside his doorstep. She probably needed serious help if she couldn’t be bothered to use the doorbell. 

 

After unlatching the door, Law turned the knob with a click and it opened quietly. He stuck his head out carefully, expecting to see the same girl he saw in the peephole but didn’t. 

 

It wasn’t even a girl anymore.

 

Law squinted. And then blinked. If his eyes were adjusting to the light, they were doing a horrible job.

 

Right at his doorstep where the blonde girl was supposed to be was a blonde man wearing a black coat over a double-breasted suit and... Was that a cravat? He was almost as tall as Law except maybe for the tall black top hat on his head. And Law would’ve wondered why anyone would still wear those hats—With goggles? What?—in this day and age, but the burn scar over the stranger’s left eye was more prominent than his fashion sense.

 

“Good evening!” the stranger said in a voice that sounded like a chorus of a male and female voice, “I’m looking for my little brother.”

  
**-End of Chapter 11-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand here you go, ladies and gentlemen! Law will officially meet the family next chapter!! Yay! 
> 
> I need your thoughts. Please. Thank you.


	12. Truth or Dare

Law had so many questions.

 

Was he  _ seeing _ right? Did making out with an incubus impair vision? Or cause brain damage? Could a girl suddenly change into a man in just a second or two? In a matter of blinks? Could a man have two voices—one male and one female—talking at the same time? How could one tell if he was being victimized by a prank or a reality show? Was it alright to give unsolicited fashion advice?

 

“Hello?” The man waved his gloved hand up and down over Law’s face. The stranger blinked with his wide and dark eyes. Law could not get over how he sounded like a male and a female at the same time. There was one person. How was he sounding like two? Maybe there was someone else around that’s speaking with him? For the kicks? 

 

“Oh, wha—” Law blinked. He was a girl. Law blinked again. She was a man.

 

A tattooed hand ran across the his own face in an effort to reset his senses.

 

“I’m… I’m sorry…” Law shook his head. The stranger was a girl again. And then a man.

 

What was going on? Maybe he really was suffering from the side-effects from that infirmary illusion? He needed to talk to Luffy about this later just in case. Or maybe text Sanji tomorrow.

 

“Are you alright, mister?” He-she blinked again. Law fought every urge he had to just close the door and pretend that nothing was happening. The person he was talking to right now looked like an an opaque but flickering hologram with horrible reception. 

 

Like he wasn’t human.

 

Law gasped.

 

Uh-oh.

 

Maybe he  _ should _ call Luffy.

 

“Mister?” asked the stranger.

 

Law looked at the person in front of him. The flickering ceased for a while. It was a man. It was  _ clearly _ a man with a proper male voice now. Holy  _ fuck _ . Not another one of these supernatural beings! What creature was this? Was he a vampire, too? Could vampires change voices? Or  _ shapeshift _ ? Could it smell fear? Law took a deep breath, unsure if he was going to slam the door and run or just call for Luffy immediately. 

 

“Sabo.” And that was his demon right on cue. 

 

Sabo? What in the hell was that?

 

Luffy was standing a good distance away from Law. The rest of the house was still dark, but he could clearly see Luffy’s focused wide-eyed expression as he stared at the flickering  _ creature _ at the doorstep. And that said a whole fucking lot. How many things in this world could make Luffy stand still and  _ concentrate _ despite having a mediocre attention span?

 

“Luffy?” Law began as he took a cautious step back, but his demon was so transfixed on the shapeshifting, voice-changing creature at the door.

 

“Sabo.” Luffy said again and Law wondered if that was a spell or a name. “I think my human can see you.”

 

His demon was talking to this…  _ individual _ . Sabo was a name, then. “Can see you”, he said. So there was something about him that Law wasn’t supposed to see. Then the flickering wasn’t caused by Law’s fizzled brain? 

 

“Oh…?” The creature actually sounded  _ amused _ as he removed his top hat like he was being polite, “Well, then...”

 

“Luffy.” Without his eyes tearing away from Sabo, Law’s hand instinctively reached for his demon a few paces behind him. He grabbed nothing but air.

 

“Law.” Luffy was quick to turn to his human, “Law, stay away from—”

 

“Well,  _ fuck it, _ then!” That was a different voice. A booming male voice coming from outside was the last thing Law heard before he hit something, another thing, and then the floor, shoulder first. He could make out Luffy’s yelling voice being drowned in motion and pain as everything spun and  _ throbbed _ . His midsection hurt like fuck. His chest felt like it had caved in. He couldn’t breathe.

 

What happened?

 

“Ace, no!” That was Luffy.

 

Ace? Who was that? What was that? Law motioned to get up, but couldn’t stop from writhing in pain. What hit him? How? What happened? Where was he? It felt like he got tossed right through a mountain. His swaying vision couldn’t even figure that the floor was his own home’s. 

 

Law curled, gritting his teeth in an attempt to endure the pain as much as he could to help him get a hold of the situation. He had to get up. There were two of these intruders. Luffy seemed like a strong demon, but every fiber in Law’s being knew that these two creatures were  _ nothing _ like Bellamy. Luffy was alone against them. 

 

_ Luffy. _

 

Law tried to get up. His body wasn’t responding properly.

 

“Lu—” was the only sound he got out of his mouth before he realized that his incubus was suddenly between him and the second stranger to enter the scene. This creature wore thick black boots, black shorts with large pockets, a necklace of red round beads on his neck, and nothing else. Law tried to focus on what his face looked like but could only make out the freckles and the silhouette of his wavy raven hair that fell just below his ears. Unlike Luffy and the first stranger, this one had a tail that swished back and forth like a wary, angry whip.

 

Meanwhile, the man in the top hat had not moved from his spot at the still open door. 

 

“Luffy.” said the shirtless, freckled creature, “We’re here to take you home.”

 

“Ace…! I can’t—!” 

 

Ace? Was that this guy’s name? Law groaned. He couldn’t even lift his head long enough to observe what was happening.

 

“Can’t?” Ace growled at him and Law couldn’t see his expression but fangs were the first to come to his mind, “So he  _ is _ holding you against your will.”

 

“No, he’s—!”

 

Without warning, Law was suddenly being dragged across the floor. He hadn’t realized what was happening yet before he found himself being held by the neck and slammed against the wall. The fingers wound tight with a raging burn that reduced Law’s strength into nothing but ashes.

 

Law’s scream of pain was entirely involuntary, but he his brain was such in a panicked frenzy that he didn’t even hear himself. Out of instinct, he tried to run, but his feet weren’t touching the floor. They dangled above a smoldering bottomless abyss with a sea of wrath and fire licking against the glowing red rocks. The sky was an angry shade of crimson and the air was thick and unbreathable. Everything was red, glowing, fiery, angry, and  _ loud _ . Everything was going to consume him. Everything was  _ fire _ .

 

_ No. No, this wasn’t real. Wake up. Wake up! _

 

Law started coughing, trying to find air, strength, or  _ sanity _ to at least figure out what he should do. With much effort, he tried to open his eyes only to look straight into flaming red orbs that bore into his soul. The sweltering fear that seized Law’s heart was immediate, paralyzing him so that he couldn’t even flinch even when his throat felt like it would catch fire. It was like looking into the angry pit of hell itself.

 

“What have you done to my little brother!?” Ace hissed with angry fangs and wide furious eyes. Law could only gasp for air in response, but refused to even look away. There was something about this infernal gaze that he didn’t want to give into even as tears started to form from the pressure and lack of air.

 

Luffy was going to fight these things alone. The least Law could do was not look scared. Luffy was probably worried enough as it is.

 

_ Fuck you.  _

 

Law was desperately trying to glare with all he had.

 

_ Fuck you. Just wait. My demon is going to tear you apart. _

 

Luffy could do that. Luffy was strong.

 

Law’s eyes tore away from the infernal abomination in front of him and tried to focus on something else. It was such a struggle staying awake and not panic while everything around him and this demon slowly faded into black and white. The rest of the world was blurred, shaky, and colorless, but the demon holding him by the throat was clear. The markings on the creature’s arm started glowing with fiery red wisps dancing upwards in spirals and waves as if they were calling out to Law.

 

It was saying something. There was no voice to listen to and there were no letters to read but Law could  _ feel _ something seeping into his consciousness.

 

_ Born from the raging fury of fire itself and kissed by tears of ember, this demon’s name is— _

 

“Ace, fucking  _ stop it _ !” Luffy’s voice that was quickly approaching from one side had broken whatever trance Law was in. No less than a second after that, the fingers around his neck were gone. Law slid down the wall and curled on the floor, clawing helplessly at his parched throat. There was so much hot, scorching, burning, searing,  _ damned infernal _ pain. He needed air. He needed water. 

 

Help.

 

Law needed help.

 

Luffy was more than just panicking as he stood in front of his human’s beaten body. Ace was dodging whatever kicks and punches he’d thrown so far. Right now, his only consolation was that he was next to Law lying near the foot of the stairs. At the door, Luffy could still see Sabo who was merely watching everything. Behind him, Luffy could see a wall of mana probably to mask what was going on in the house.

 

Now what was he to do? Should he chase his brother away from his human and try to talk some sense into his skull? Or should he stand his ground next to Law to make sure no one gets to him? But thinking for more than a moment was not wise mid-fight especially with someone with enough experience as Ace. That small window of contemplation was all the opening the fire demon needed to lunge at the human on the floor again. He was nothing more but a shadowy wisp that Luffy couldn’t even properly follow him.

 

So fast!

 

The incubus quickly picked up his human and moved towards the other end of the living room just across the couch. Ace was now standing where Law used to be. 

 

Had Ace always been this damn agile or was Luffy just slower? The incubus carefully lowered his groaning human to the ground. The younger demon’s persevering scarlet irises met the older’s infernal ones.

 

Luffy must not let his fire demon brother get any closer. If this man burst into flames, there was no telling what or  _ who _ could to get caught in that hell. They had to get out of the house. Away from here. Away from  _ Law _ . 

 

But  _ how _ !?

 

Out of instinct, Luffy threw a punch. A dark shadow of his fist launched like a phantom extension of his arm, shooting like a pistol bullet that Ace easily met with his own bare fist. A shockwave rocked the house. The furnitures jumped around. The ornaments shook and fell. The pitcher on the table exploded. The lights frantically flickered. Luffy grunted and started firing consecutive punches from where he stood. The dark wisps of his fists shot out in a volley of frustration, like angry shadows in the dimness of Law’s home. It looked like a very convincing attack with how easily it had flipped the couch and tore at its covers, but all it took was a circular wave of Ace’s hand and a ring of fire consumed all of the phantom fists.

 

That just confirmed Luffy’s fears. He didn’t have enough mana to stand up to someone as strong as his brother. Fuck, fuck, fuck,  _ fuck! _

 

No sense in worrying, though. It wasn’t going to help.

 

Luffy grunted as he pushed his feet apart to widen and lower his stance. He had to stand his ground and convince his brother. There was no way he was beating Ace with the sparse life essence he was running on. But Ace was incorrigible and Luffy was bad with words.

 

Behind Luffy, his human was teary-eyed and coughing. It was so much mental torture how he couldn’t even look at how Law was doing. If only he could get Ace to listen to him!

 

The older demon just continued to stand there. The ring of fire he had created to block Luffy’s attack was now dancing mid-air around him in the same rhythm as the movement of his tail. Ace glowed a threatening hue of orange and red in the darkness.

 

“Luffy.” Ace growled lowly. His eyes glowed with the ardor of his fire trying to intimidate Luffy’s own blood crimson ones, “Luffy, are you really trying to  _ fight me _ !?”

 

“I don’t want to fight you!” Luffy held back a yell so as not to aggravate his brother.

 

“He’s  _ making you _ fight me, isn’t he?” Ace hissed, glaring at Law who was trying to crawl towards any form of comfort right now. Luffy’s heart was tearing at his mind at his perception Law’s thoughts—water, hot, burning, air, breath, hurt, pain, help.

 

_ Help _ .

 

That last word was so, so faint. Like Law was trying so hard not to let anyone hear.

 

“Ace, no, _ listen to me _ !” 

 

But it was like his brother heard nothing.

 

“I’ve decided.” The fire demon slammed his fist against his palm, “I’m going to kill this fucking human.” 

 

Dammit! So stubborn!

 

“Ace,  _ please _ !”

 

Luffy braced himself. His hands tightened into as hard and angry a fist as he could get them. He reminded himself that Law was right behind him and that he needed to push Ace back. This intensity would suffocate his battered body. What was Luffy going to do if Law died?!

 

“Stop it, Ace. They’re  _ bonded _ .” Sabo said from the door, effectively stopping whatever Ace was about to do in the next few seconds. And that was good. A few seconds was good. Luffy could try to think of a course of action, but nothing was coming up. Nothing! 

 

Dammit, why was he so stupid?! Why?! What was he going to do!?

 

“If you kill him,” Sabo spoke calmly as he looked at the hat he was holding, “There’s no guarantee that Luffy won’t die with him.”

 

True. That was true. 

 

_ Sabo, please keep talking. Please keep talking. _

 

“Oh.” The angry, fiery demon stopped to think, his tail swinging around slowly as he made a contemplative face. Luffy was barely breathing. He wanted to reach for Law who was still trying to make his way to where the pitcher used to be but he hadn’t moved a proper inch from his spot. Luffy’s heart was breaking.

 

_ No, Law. The pitcher’s broken. You’re going to hurt yourself with the glass shards on the floor. _

 

But Luffy had no time for that. Ace was turning back to his little brother and eyed the human trying to crawl on the floor, “Then I’ll just break his legs. That should be okay.”

 

“That is  _ not okay _ , Ace!” Luffy wanted to wring his arms, punch Ace in the face, and take care of Law all at the same time, “I’m not being forced into anything! It was an accident!  _ Listen to me _ !”

 

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Luffy.” Ace lowered his stance some more, rubbing his nose as the ring of flames continued to dance around him, “Don’t worry. Big bro’s going to rescue you from that warlock that trapped you.”

 

“Ace, fucking  _ no _ !”

 

Luffy was trying not to scream so hard, trying not to build up more rage than necessary, trying not to make Law worry any more than he already was. He was sure the man could hear him despite his state on the floor. 

 

And that was entirely true. Law could hear Luffy’s voice except he couldn’t really make out the words. He had no energy to spare even for something as simple as  _ that _ . All of his efforts were being spent on trying to stay alive and awake. And to find water. All he had to do was not get in the way. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

 

Law wanted groan, but his throat felt like it had been touched by the sun itself. It’s not that there was no water in his system anymore. It’s that his fucking esophagus was  _ on fire _ . It was stinging him like crazy and it crawled up to his head so that his eyes felt like they were giving off steam while watering at the same time. 

 

Fuck, Luffy better not think he was crying or he was going to be so alarmed. Trepidation was a luxury they couldn’t afford. Neither of them had time for incessant worrying with two demons knocking on the doorstep. 

 

_ “May I come in?” _   
  
Huh? Who was that? The voice didn’t sound like it was next to Law. It sounded like it was in his head. Fucking hell, he had so much to deal with right now. Random voices in his head were not welcome.

 

_ “My brothers are fighting.” _

 

Brothers? What? Oh. Law recognized the voice. It was the blonde stranger with the top hat. Ace and Luffy were fighting. They were brothers?! Luffy had brothers!?

 

_ “I can stop them for you.” _

 

Law coughed. Why didn’t he, then? Did it look like Law could handle things on his own?

 

_ “But you have to let me in.” _

 

Law wanted to grunt or growl but even that took too much effort. He tried lifting his head, but all he could do was shift slightly. He could see the man’s feet at the door. He was standing right where Law had left him. 

 

The shaking of the house wasn’t stopping. Law could still hear Luffy’s voice and feel his thoughts running around the house. His incubus had to calm down. No battle was won by flailing limbs in hopes of a lucky punch.

 

_ “Let me in.” _

 

The human closed his eyes. He had no idea how to respond to the voice in his head. Not once had he tried telepathy. But, fuck it.

 

_ The door’s wide open. Just help yourself in! _

 

_ “Oh, so bossy. What does Luffy even see in you? But fine, human. Since you let me in.” _

 

Why was this demon so sassy and sarcastic?

 

“Okay, children, playtime’s over!” Sabo clapped and just like that, the lights all over the house were switched on all at the same time. It sent Ace hissing and cringing out of instinct. The flames around him panicked with him, hovering in such frantic, random patterns like they didn’t know how to keep the unwelcome light away from their creator. Sabo extended an arm and closed his fingers into a light fist. Just like that, the flames around Ace died down in a puff of smoke.

 

Law was no demon, but the sudden light flooding his eyes had him writhing in shock so intense, he could somehow  _ hear _ the glare of light from the ceiling. Even  _ that _ hurt.

 

“Law!”

 

He was only aware he had been reaching out when two small, trembling hands caught his.

 

Luffy. He couldn’t see, but he knew it was Luffy.

 

Was he okay? Did he win? Did he have the upper hand at least? Of course, he did. He was strong. And Law was useless. All he could do right now was bite his lip to keep himself from groaning. He could feel Luffy picking him up. Law caught a whiff of his demon’s scent. It was comforting in its own way.

 

Luffy’s trembling lips kissed his tattooed fingers. His little demon had been so worried and Law wanted so much to touch his hair.

 

“Enough with the bickering.” Sabo’s said calmly, stepping into the house for the first time. His top hat disappeared from his hand. With one slow and gentle wave behind him, the door closed and locked itself as the demon in blue walked across the room, “You made a mess of the human’s home. What etiquette.”

 

“Sabo.” Ace glared at his brother, ignoring his comments, “Who the fuck said you could touch my flames?”

 

“The human gave me permission in exchange for halting the both of you.” Sabo shrugged, not even bothered that his older brother was staring infernal daggers at him. The blonde demon flicked his finger and the upturned couch flipped upright. The covers were torn and the insides were spilling out but he could sit on it and cross his legs. That was basically everything he needed.

 

“I can move at full strength in his territory.” Sabo continued as he sat down, “This shouldn’t be a surprise to you.”

 

“It doesn’t mean you should kill my flames just because you can.” Ace’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Luffy’s cries said I could.” the demon in blue was still speaking levelly as he watched his brother’s confused expression.

 

“What? Luffy wasn’t crying…” Ace paused and tilted his head, “...Was he? I mean, why would he?”

 

The sound of a slamming door followed by the distant sound of running water made Ace jump a bit and look around. His little brother and his human was nowhere to be seen. Sabo leaned back and looked towards the kitchen, his eyes trailing towards the door to the backyard. 

 

“Maahhh-naahh-aaahh!!” 

 

Law wasn’t sure if he was going to drink or drown from how the water was splashing onto his face. He also wasn’t certain where he was right now, but Luffy had somehow found a way to hydrate him by putting him under a cold torrent of water. Sure, the force of the splashes hurt a bit because of how Law’s body was sore from a beating that he didn’t really know how he got but it killed the feeling of having searing flames from inside his body. And Law was thankful for that. His mouth had instinctively opened, desperately trying to catch as much heaven from the cold spray as he could. 

 

“Oh my god. Law.” Luffy was almost,  _ almost _ sobbing, clutching onto him under the stream of water, “Please be okay. Please, please be okay.” 

 

The demon pressed a kiss on Law’s forehead. And then on his left cheek. Then on his right cheek, his nose, his lips, his forehead again, back to his lips once, twice, thrice… Desperately.

 

“Lu—” 

 

The water decided one syllable was all Law could churn out before it shot straight into his throat and nose. Law started coughing as he tried to sit up without success and with much difficulty. Shit. What was broken in his body? Was anything twisted? Swollen? Torn?  _ Amputated _ ?

 

Luffy drew him into a really tight, relieved hug. The water stopped gushing, but Law could still hear splashing sounds nearby. He groaned, still feeling shit, but heaps better than how he felt earlier. His vision slowly steadied and the first thing he saw was the garden hose whipping like an alarmed snake on drugs on the ground.

 

Oh, so Luffy decided to spray water on him using  _ that _ . Couldn’t blame him. He probably didn’t think of the pitcher.

 

“Is he crying?” Ace’s voice was unexpectedly next to them and just hearing him made Law flinch and fidget in Luffy’s arms. Everything hurt again and the little tremors across his skin returned with a pang of fear. His eyes screwed shut, but in the darkness he could see Ace’s fangs and his fiery gaze that made Law’s eyelids fly open with a painful groan. His demon panicked with him, limbs wrapping tighter around his body, a hand lightly falling on his head, stroking his hair, and pushing him towards his chest with a quiet, “Ssshhhhh, don’t listen to the dumb fire demon.”

 

“Why is Luffy whining?” Ace mumbled to Sabo who appeared like a ghost fading in next to Ace, “Why? What for?”

 

“I’m crying because you’re stupid, Ace.” Luffy shot back without looking up at his brothers behind him. He couldn’t be bothered from gently rocking Law back and forth in his arms, “Stupid, Ace. Stupid.  _ Stupid _ !”

 

The fire demon drew a very deep breath of disbelief. His mouth hung open like Luffy had said something so preposterous. Ace turned to Sabo who just stared flatly at him as if to say, “He’s not wrong.” Ace furrowed his eyebrows in further confusion, his eyes squinting and then growing wide again before turning back to look at Luffy.

 

“Law… What do I do?  _ What do I do _ ?” Luffy mumbled, “I don’t know what to do. I’m so fucking dumb.”

 

“Luffy, no, you’re not dumb.” Ace was about to step forward, but Sabo gently pulled him back and shook his head. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Luffy continued.

 

“It’s o—” Ace began again.

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” The youngest brother continued and it was unclear whether he was talking over his older brother or he just didn’t hear, “ _ I _ should’ve gotten the door. Sabo is also sorry because he interrupted us. Ace is also sorry because he’s dumb. They’re sorry. We all are. So please be okay.  _ Please _ .”

 

“Me? Sorry? I am  _ n _ —Ughk!”

 

Sabo quickly elbowed Ace heavily in the ribs, knocking him to the side. The shirtless demon fell on his bottom and immediately glared at Sabo. The second brother glared back with a face that said, “Shut up for a while.” Ace grumbled and looked at his youngest brother before sighing.

 

“What has the warlock done to our little brother?”

 

Sabo only responded with a low murmur.

 

“Why isn’t the human healing himself?” Ace pointed to Law with an open palm, looking up at Sabo like everything was so absurd, “He has Luffy, for fuck’s sake!”

 

Sabo rubbed his chin thoughtfully, eyeing his smaller brother and his human. His eyes squinted as he chewed on his bottom lip.

 

“Hey, yo!” Ace kicked the grass in an attempt to get some dirt on Sabo to get his attention.

 

“It looks like he doesn’t know how to use Luffy.” the blonde demon replied, stepping away from Ace and his little unnecessary shenanigans.

 

“Why did he even bother snaring a demon then!?” Ace leaned back on his palms, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Do you think we’ll find out if we  _ ask him nicely _ ?” Sabo sarcastically turned his head with a mocking curious face. Ace was quick to pick up on it and widened his eyes at the other demon, “Well,  _ ask him nicely _ then.”

 

“Ace, you  _ baked his throat _ .”

 

“He baked—What do I doooo?!” Luffy was now half-sobbing and started burying his face in Law’s hair. Sabo gasped and covered his mouth while Ace glared at him, “Stupid Sabo. Stupid.”

 

“Saaaaboooo, do somethiiiiiiiiiiiiing…!” Luffy was starting to tear up as he looked back at the blonde demon who blinked at the sight of his little brother’s watery eyes and trembling lips, “I don’t know what to dooooooo. Law is dyiiiiiiing.”

 

“Dying!?” Ace got up in a jiffy and in an instant he was a wave of fire shooting towards the spot beside Sabo where he reappeared in proper form again, “He’s dying!? I didn’t—!”

 

Sabo covered Ace’s mouth and glared. The oldest brother shrugged before Sabo removed his hand.

 

“He’s not dying, Luffy.” the calm second brother sat down and ruffled Luffy’s hair, “But... Ah, well. I guess it’s my job as the middle brother to always come prepared.”

 

“Can you…” Luffy sniffed twice. “Can you help him? My human?”

 

“Well…” Sabo reached inside his coat and pulled out a small round corked bottle filled with what seemed to be sparkling white water, “Good thing I asked Koala for some healing brew.”

 

An expression of gratefulness washed over Luffy’s face with a heavy sigh of relief, “Thank you, Sabo! You’re the best...!”

 

Standing right next to them, Ace rolled his eyes away.

 

“Emotional traitors.”

 

* * *

 

The night sky was the first thing to greet Law when he woke up after the whole flaming fury fiasco. However, instead of questioning why there wasn’t a roof over his head, the first thing Law did was to  _ breathe _ . And he did so. Without pain. He allowed himself a few seconds to lie still and assess how his body felt. He didn’t feel injured anymore. Tired, yes. But injured? Not really. That threw him off a bit because he knew that such immediate recovery from broken bones and torn tendons wasn’t possible. Not unless he’d been out for days. But then again, vampires, incubi, succubi, and demons in general weren’t deemed possible two days ago either. So he’d rather proceed to wondering why he was lying flat on his back in his own backyard.

 

As expected, Luffy was the first to notice that Law had awoken. That was even while he was in the middle of an argument with his brothers. Law could hear the voices of the two other demons as his little incubus crawled onto him and smothered him with kisses. It was quite amusing to think that they even managed to communicate with all three of them talking at the same time.

 

Luffy sounded like a mix of laughing and crying while he apologized about something that Law couldn’t properly hear because he was trying to understand  _ why _ there was a big bonfire in the middle of his garden. And  _ why _ were there big fucking rats being roasted on a stick?! As he watched the smoke billow up into the starry sky, he decided life would be better off not knowing.

 

Even if Law managed to go back to his normal life, the overall trauma of this whole experience was going to stay with him forever. Just recently, he was living like any normal human being. Who would have thought that he was not only going to be surrounded by a myriad of creatures, but also going to have  _ snacks _ with them after being attacked in the middle of the night?

 

Now they were sitting in the living room that Sabo made Ace clean as a sign of apology. Haphazardly. Because demons knew shit about cleaning, obviously. But Law appreciated the thought. He had to. Ace was a fire demon, dammit.

 

“I can’t wrap my head around the idea that you actually ensnared Luffy by  _ accident _ .” Sabo was saying now with his legs crossed and fingers intertwined on top of his knee, “I thought Luffy was joking at first, but hearing it from you…” Sabo shrugged and made a face, shaking his head like there really was nothing anyone could do to finish that sentence.

 

“Can’t say it was easy for me to believe at first either.” Law mumbled. Luffy kept on rubbing his cheek against Law’s. “We can’t really do anything about that now. So what we’re trying to do is find someone to help free the both of us.”

 

Sabo made a low sound as he rested his head on his hand. His eyes studied Law and then Luffy. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking and that just made the human all the more conscious and irritated from getting stared at.

 

But if Law was going to be honest, he felt weird but special being the only human sitting among three demons. He was on his deformed couch with his very own incubus on his lap. His brain kept making parallelisms to a powerful underground leader with a tiger for a pet.

 

Luffy kept on purring and humming at him while placing light kisses on his cheek or whispering sweet nothings into his ear. Sabo was sitting on the sofa chair across him. Between Law and Sabo was Ace who had chosen to sit on the center table because it was in the goddamn  _ center _ . He was the oldest. Therefore, he deserved it. The two brothers had groaned at that, not because Ace was being silly, but because they wanted to sit in the middle, too. Law decided not to ask about that shit either. He’d rather be concerned about the salad bowl surviving with its contents while Law was fighting for his life. The pitcher wasn’t so lucky.

 

“This is so fucking good.” Ace was talking with his mouth full, clutching the plastic salad bowl in his arm and eagerly helping himself with the potato salad by digging into it with one of the sporks. 

 

“Ruffy, yu’w hum’urn mrks gu’fu!” Ace waved the spork at Luffy. Law’s eyes followed the arched trail made by the flying bits of ham. And bacon. Such a waste.

 

“Yeah, he makes good food.” Luffy playfully rubbed his nose against Law’s ear before glaring at Ace, “And you tried to  _ kill him _ , you bastard!”

 

“Hey, I try to cook, too,  Ace.” Sabo frowned at his shirtless brother, “Even if you don’t fucking need it, you ungrateful asshole.”

 

“I already said sorry!” Ace yelled at Luffy before looking back into the bowl, “Was it my fault he declined my token of apology!?” The fire demon stuck a spork into the potato salad like he would a spear on the ground, “I even chose the biggest rat for him, you know!”

 

Law did not want to be reminded of what that goddamn “token of apology” looked like.

 

“Law has a food plan to follow so his blood is okay when he feeds me!” Luffy yelled as he leaned forward without removing his hands around Law’s neck. The human gasped while being forcefully pulled forward by the incubus hanging onto him. Luffy kept on talking anyway, “My boyfriend tries to take care of me and what did you try to do?  _ Bake his throat _ .”

 

“I already told you. Humans. Find. Rats.  _ Disgusting _ .” Sabo crossed his arms. “But did you listen? Did  _ either _ of you listen?  _ No _ .” The demon in blue leaned back heavily on the couch, arms tightening in front of him as he looked away. “No one listens to me until someone’s about to lose a limb or something.”

 

Okay, it was happening again. Law wasn’t sure how these brothers managed to do it but they were talking almost all at the same time again. He’d wonder if all demons were like this but having a conversation with Zoro and Nami wasn’t anywhere close to what he was dealing with right now. Luffy was already a bag of crazy, but god damn, having him and his brothers in one room was like nursing a storm. And they were just  _ conversing _ !

 

“Rats are  _ edible _ , mister fire jinn, sir.” There were morsels of food flying out of Ace’s mouth. Law looked at the bits that had accumulated on the floor. That had to be cleaned or it was going to be sticky.

 

“Even a rat bigger than you doesn’t even make up for how you almost killed my human!” Luffy waved a fist at Ace before hugging Law for comfort. Over the course of two days, it seemed Law had gotten good at tolerating Luffy’s mushy gestures. He gave himself an imaginary pat on the back.

 

“Fucking  _ hell _ , Luffy!  _ Let it go _ !” Ace stuffed three spoonfuls into his mouth so fast in between words, “I already said sorry! What the fuck!?”

 

“Luffy, what the hell?” Sabo made a loud stomp with one foot as he uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, waving his arms, “An even bigger rat is even more disgusting! Seriously, fucking  _ keep up _ .” Sabo threw himself back on the chair. “You see? No one  _ ever _ listens to me!!”

 

“Yeah! Listen to Sabo! Stupid Luffy!” Ace was talking with the spork sticking out of his mouth.

 

“Stupid Ace!” Luffy yelled from where he was sitting without even turning or letting go of Law. And that just meant his voice almost smashed Law’s eardrums, which was not a welcome feeling at all.

 

“Luffy, stop it!” Law slapped Luffy’s thigh and the incubus gasped to pull away and look at his human who kept talking, “This wouldn’t have happened if you just  _ told me _ you had brothers.”

 

Well, not really. Maybe Law couldn’t have prevented this from happening, but at least he could’ve taken precautionary measures. Like having a fucking  _ fire sprinkler system _ installed for instance. Or garlic. Did that work? Talismans? Pentagrams? Holy water?

 

There was a moment’s hush in the room that Law wasn’t even able to enjoy for one more second before Ace started talking again.

 

“See? Even your human is on  _ my side _ .” Ace pointed at himself with his thumb and Law fought every urge to say, “You almost  _ burned me _ to death so how about  _ no _ ?”

 

“You almost  _ burned him _ to death!” Luffy took one of the couch pillows and threw it at Ace who just moved his head out of the way as Luffy kept screaming, “How is Law on  _ your side _ !?” 

 

Well, what did you know? This thought-feeling thing came in handy.

 

“Don’t change the topic, you spoiled child.” Sabo was leaning forward again with a more prominent frown than earlier, “Why didn’t you tell him you had brothers?”

 

“Honestly, Sabo,” Ace was casually scraping what’s left of the potato salad, “ _ You’re _ the one that spoils him.”

 

“Tell me it isn’t true, munchkin.” Luffy had turned his attention to Law. He squeezed his human’s cheeks between his palms. “You’re on  _ my _ side forever, aren’t you, cuddle cakes? Oh, you adorable little thing, I just—Mmmmrrr!!” Luffy pinched Law’s cheeks so hard, the human yelped, “Oh, did that hurt, sugar plum? Let me give you a kiss.”

 

What in the hell?

 

Luffy’s lips were already on his before Law could say anything aside from the definite appreciative sigh that escaped his throat. Sabo and Ace were still talking in the background but their voices were quickly and easily fading with how Luffy was moving his lips. Law’s hand lightly placed itself on Luffy’s waist as the incubus adjusted on his lap, humming contentedly as he tilted his head. Yeah. This was okay. This was good. This was… This was  _ absolutely absurd _ . Not okay at all! How were they suddenly making out? Why didn’t any of Luffy’s brothers care? Why was Law getting swept into this pace? What the fuck?!

 

“I know right!?” Sabo slapped his knee in affirmation of  _ something _ that Law wasn’t able to follow, “We should just burn all of those, really!”

 

“Definitely!” Ace said, his voice sounding like an echo. The fire demon had lifted the bowl up to cover his face and was now licking the inside. Lovely. Law wondered about demonic microorganisms. There had to be a book about that shit.

 

“Law…” Luffy purred and moved from sitting to  _ straddling _ , “Why are we stopping?”

 

“What? What do you mean?” Law shook his head and shifted Luffy before his dick got any thoughts of taking over at all, “Okay, no. Wait. Hold up.”

 

He held Luffy by the wrists and firmly pushed him away while asking, “Are you all the same kind of demon?”

 

It was the first question that popped into his head, but it seemed to effectively get the attention of the two other demons in the room. The two older brothers quickly turned to Law presumably to answer judging by how Ace and Sabo opened their mouths. That just prompted Law to immediately lift a finger and say, “One by one. So we can all listen while someone’s talking.”

 

Both of Luffy’s brothers nodded quickly before opening their mouths  _ again  _ at the same time. Law could almost hear their voices calling over a storm of words and disjointed topics with more branches than lightning. Mother of  _ god _ . 

 

“Why don’t we start with Sabo?” Law nodded at the demon in blue who was obviously not expecting that. Else, why would he look  _ that _ startled? His recovery was almost instant, though, and he quickly looked smug and delighted at the same time. Was this the first time ever in his life that someone asked him to go first? Was probably tough being in the middle of these two tornadoes.

 

“But I’m oldest!” Ace put the bowl down like this was some fucking serious business.

 

“It’s  _ Law’s house _ ! His rules!” Luffy was quick to reason out, “Sabo asked permission to come in. You  _ barged in. _ ”

 

“You already took the center table  _ and _ the salad, Ace.” Law shrugged. That didn’t seem like a proper reason to Law, really, but judging by the last few minutes, substance didn’t always matter with these creatures.

 

“Tsk!” Ace crossed his arms over his chest and pouted at the now empty salad bowl, “Fine! Compromise!”

 

When Law turned back to Sabo, the blonde demon was  _ beaming _ in triumph. It was both amazing and funny how demons could look so grateful over the silliest of things. It made Law wonder if he was making a good first impression. He hoped so. 

 

Law looked thoughtfully at his demon who had pressed his face against his human’s shoulder as he giggled alone for  _ some reason _ . Theirs wasn’t a relationship that required family approval because, well, they weren’t really  _ together _ by choice. But he was already meeting Luffy’s brothers anyway so why not make good ties out of it, right? That was one less thing to be worried about for the duration of their bond. 

 

When Law looked up again, Sabo was still beaming expectantly at him. What? What was he waiting for? Law then turned to Ace who was still lamenting over the now empty bowl in his hands.

 

What had Law’s life become?

 

“Sabo?” Law began unsurely, “Can you—”

 

“I’m a fire jinn!” The blonde creature almost  _ chirped _ so happily, he startled Ace enough to drop the bowl he had been sniffing over. It didn’t break, but the fire demon pretended nothing happened anyway.

 

“Well, I can wield wind and water and other elements.” Sabo nodded to himself approvingly. “But I take a liking to fire. Because all three of us use fire.”

 

“All three of you…?” Law thought back to the first time he met Luffy, which was just forty-eight hours ago, and he had no recollection of his incubus using fire, “Luffy, you can use fire?”

 

“They take after  _ me _ .” Ace interjected with his chest stuck out and head held high, “Because I’m a fire demon to the core!”

 

“What’s the difference?” Law was thinking out loud.

 

“The difference is that I’m fire itself.” Ace said and then pointed to Sabo, “ _ He _ controls fire or calls it forth. Or maybe make some with his mana. My mana  _ is  _ fire. I _ am  _ fire.”

 

Well, that was surprisingly concise. Law thought he had heard something about being born from fire before. And something about embers. He wasn’t sure. Maybe from some fantasy book he read as a child. Law just brushed it off and asked another question.

 

“So where does the voice changing come in?”

 

“I’ll have you know that jinns are excellent shapeshifters.” Sabo said, his voice sounding like a professional lecturer, “Observe.”

 

There wasn’t any further warning, delay or transition. Law just suddenly found himself looking at Ace where Sabo used to be. That startled him, to be honest, because his brain was almost convinced that Sabo had not been there at all. It was  _ Ace _ who had been there all along. There  _ was _ no Sabo. But then the demon in front of him started  _ flickering _ like a visual computer glitch. Law had to rub his eyes. 

 

“You can see me, can’t you?” Law could hear Sabo’s voice but he could also hear a child’s voice. The shapeshifter was now in the form of a five-year old boy wearing a jumper and a baseball cap and holding a toy truck. He was missing one shoe and the socks on his dangling feet were mismatched. It only took one blink for it to go away, though, and Law was looking at a glitchy Sabo again.

 

“You can see me when I shapeshift.” the blonde jinn sounded curious and amused as his eyes studied Law carefully. The human wondered if the demon could see anything else as he continued to speak, “Even when I had the form of the girl earlier. You could see what I really looked like then, couldn’t you?”

 

“I guess.” Law shrugged, running his tattooed hand down his face to clear his vision, “I mean, you were changing back and forth really fast so I was a bit confused.” The man shook his head, “I’m not sure if this is a weird question, but do you know why that is?”

 

“Why what is?” Sabo asked.

 

“Why I can see you? I’m not used to just suddenly being able to…” Law could feel Luffy shifting on his lap so he could put his head on the man’s shoulder at an angle where he could also see his brothers. Luffy had been unusually silent for a good while now. Was it because Law asked them to talk one by one?

 

“Suddenly?” Sabo sounded surprised, “So before this, you weren’t… Weren’t able to…”

 

“But aren’t you a warlock?” Ace joined in, sounding serious for a change.

 

“Warlock?” Law raised an eyebrow, “No. Why would I be?”

 

“Why wouldn’t you be?” Ace tilted his head, “You ensnared Luffy. How the fuck did you fight him?”

 

“Fight him?” Law leaned back. He was waiting for Luffy to say something but his demon remained silent.

 

“I fought back but I didn’t…” Law recalled the alley incident with Luffy and Bellamy. It was hardly a fight. It was mostly just futile resistance and dumb luck. Or adrenaline. Law couldn’t tell. “I didn’t fight like  _ you _ did. Luffy’s too strong.” 

 

The incubus purred and curled like a ball on Law’s lap, pressing against his human like he was trying to hide in his armpit or whatever. What was even  _ wrong _ with him? Law steadied Luffy with one hand and kept talking, “I mean, that kind of explosive fight… I can’t do someth—”

 

“ _ Explosive! _ I like that word!” Ace clapped loudly, leaning forward eagerly and excitedly at the human, “You recognize strength well! Good, good! But if you thought  _ that _ was explosive, tell you what… I can make my own sun!”

 

Law’s eyebrows shot up. His… His own  _ sun _ !? Or did he mean  _ son _ ? Eh? Why would Ace make his own  _ son _ ? That didn’t make sense. Or did it? Why would that be worth sharing, though? But then again,  _ demons _ so...

 

“For fuck’s sake.” Sabo rolled his eyes away.

 

“Oh my  _ god _ , here he goes.” Luffy finally groaned into Law’s shoulder.

 

“Don’t listen to these two fuckers. Look…!” Ace moved towards the edge of the table. Law worried it might tip over, but Ace was now opening his palm to show him something. His own sun or son or whatever. The only human in the room was not about to be a rude audience to a demon that had every ability to reduce him to ashes.

 

“I’ll show you.” Ace chuckled and just before Law could panic about how his house wasn’t built to withstand demons making suns within its walls, Ace immediately added, “I’ll make a tiny one…”

 

Law really couldn’t tell him not to because he allowed Sabo to demonstrate his ability. He felt like the same “courtesy” should be extended to Ace. But he also had this nagging feeling to tell him that his house wasn’t fire-proof at all. So  _ what _ if it was a tiny sun? A sun was still a  _ sun _ , right? Would it have some sort of gravitational pull that would fuck up objects in the vicinity? 

 

A glimpse of a quick red-orange spark just above the middle of Ace’s palm caught Law’s attention enough for him to stop wondering about the possibility of shaping a black hole in his house. Law gasped and Ace snickered. Well, if he thought Law was impressed, he was definitely off track. The human was, in fact, having flashbacks of having a burning throat that he was trying to ignore.

 

The small flame split into two and started spinning with each other, twirling until they were growing quickly into a sphere-like form. The small blazes spun faster and faster, swelling like a giant bomb threatening to explode. It looked like a fiery heart that beat harder with every second that it grew angrier. For the first time, Law could  _ hear _ fire. The fervor was  _ loud _ and there were screams and cheers and laughter and cries and… and so much violent  _ passion _ and happiness all at the same time. A strange heat seared his vision. He had to take a deep breath. His throat felt dry. His fingers were weak. His head was—

 

“Enough!” Luffy pulled Law back, covering his human’s eyes with one hand and swatting Ace’s arm with the other. The small ball of flame flew up in the air and died out in its own fiery fizzle and a puff of smoke. Law could hear a faint, but happy goodbye.

 

“No more fire!” Luffy gently pushed Law back so he was leaning on the couch. The human was breathing heavily, hands trembling, knees weak. Law swallowed to calm himself down, but found that his throat was parched. If either Ace or Sabo had said anything in reaction to Luffy’s outburst, he didn’t really hear. There was a strange ringing in his ears that blocked out everything but Luffy’s voice.

 

“I’m getting you water.” the incubus kissed his eyes that he just realized he had closed, “I’ll be back really quick. Okay, sunshine?”

 

Law nodded, trying to catch his breath as he felt Luffy crawl off him. Was he scared of fire now? Well, he hoped to be rid of this fear soon. Sure, fire was something harmful, but being frightful of even just a tiny bit of it was going to give Law problems. How was he even supposed to  _ cook _ ?

 

His demon came back shortly. Law felt Luffy kissing his eyes again like a quiet request for him to open them. And he did so albeit with some effort. He found his little demon looking worriedly at him while offering a big glass of water. Law allowed himself another deep breath before sitting properly and taking the glass from Luffy’s hands.

 

“He really likes him.” Law could hear Ace mutter as he took big gulps from the glass of water that Luffy had brought for him. He wasn’t sure which “he” Ace was talking about and thought it better not to ask.

 

“Law, man. I’m sorry. Really.” Ace watched him drink, “I just really thought you were a strong as fuck warlock…”

 

“You’ve already apologized.” Law shrugged, exhaling in relief. Luffy took the empty glass from his fingers before leaning forward and kissing the wet corners of his mouth. The human flinched consciously, but made no effort to pull away any further. For some reason, Luffy was more…  _ demonstratively affectionate _ than usual and his brothers didn’t seem to mind. What, was Luffy like this to everyone?

 

_ Stop thinking. This is not the time. _

 

“You just did what you thought was right.” Law continued over the humming of his incubus who was skipping back to the kitchen, empty glass in hand, “I mean, I would’ve done the same. I just…” Law leaned back and put an arm over his eyes to help calm himself down better. The rapping of his heart was getting annoying. “...I just don’t know why you guys would think I’m a warlock. I’ve spoken to two other demons and none of them thought I was a warlock.”

 

“Because it’s  _ Luffy _ .” Ace sighed like he was tired of repeating the same answer over and over again. Sorry, then, if Law was too fucking slow. He’d been in this new world for two days and  _ lost _ was a damn understatement. So maybe they could give him a break or something? 

 

Come to think of it what _ did _ they mean when they said warlock? Based on Law’s common knowledge, warlocks were people who can use magic, right? But then again, Law’s so-called “knowledge” had proven to be the least reliable over the previous forty-eight hours.

 

“Luffy’s too wild to be tamed is what he meant.” Sabo spoke like he could read Law’s thoughts, “It’s normal to assume that the human who had him bound was someone capable of manipulating mana to fight back.”

 

Manipulate mana? Did that equate to magic? Law tried to look back on his discussion with Nami at The Spirale. What did she say about mana again? Mana was life source or life essence. Demons, who couldn’t make mana on their own, relied on humans for their blood that had the purest form of mana. All humans had mana, but some had better quality than others. Law couldn’t remember if he’d asked Luffy at all about the quality of his mana. Regardless, if one had better quality mana, it didn’t necessarily mean that person was a warlock, right? After all, mana manipulation seemed to be a necessity. Law knew  _ none of that _ .

 

“To give you an idea of what I was expecting...” The fire jinn continued, “I brought healing brews with me because I was anticipating the possibility that one of us, Luffy included, could be seriously injured if you resisted.”

  
That made Law pull his arm off his eyes so he could look at the expression the demons were wearing. Were they  _ kidding _ ? Brews? Plural? More than one? Were they expecting a full-blown, violent  _ brawl _ ? From  _ where _ ? These creatures  _ seriously _ overestimated him. 

 

Luffy had just made it back from the kitchen and climbed onto the couch from behind. Law could hear the springs complain with Luffy’s every movement.

 

“Warlocks  _ don’t _ fuck around.” Sabo kept talking like he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. “I was expecting capture circles and traps. That’s why I tried a more civil approach than just  _ barging in _ .” Sabo glared at Ace who just shrugged so his fire jinn brother could continue, “What I wasn’t expecting was using the brew on  _ you _ .” 

 

Again, Law thought back to the conversation with Nami and Zoro. They mentioned having known a warlock until he got eaten by a werewolf. They seemed to be pretty chill talking about Crocus, which hinted that their experience with warlocks was far different from Sabo’s. The warlocks in Sabo’s mind seemed to be ruthless and incredibly skilled. And that seemed to be odd because Luffy seemed to know Crocus and didn’t have the same perception. Law thoughtfully looked at Sabo’s scar. Wasn’t it weird for a jinn who had an affinity to fire to also have a serious burn mark?

 

“You seem to know a lot.” Law was both amused and curious. 

 

“Normally, demons try to stay away from warlocks because they have so many tricks up their sleeves to make up for human frailty.” Sabo said casually and Law felt the need to bring up Crocus but didn’t want to interrupt the blonde demon’s explanation, “Humans aren’t also inclined or open-minded enough to socialize with us so it’s difficult for us to learn about normal ones let alone the god damn  _ warlocks _ . But due to certain circumstances, some of us know more about warlocks than others.”

 

“So you know more about warlocks because…?”

 

Luffy lifted Law’s arm and put it around him like he was trying to use him as a blanket or a coat.

 

“Because I have connections.” the blonde demon shrugged. Proudly. Well, it looked like this conversation was going somewhere  _ fruitful _ .

 

“Any of them a warlock?” the human inquired.

 

Luffy took Law’s other hand and started to play with his fingers. It was almost like he didn’t want to be part of this conversation. And he  _ should _ . Law was trying to get them out of his ensnaring shit. Or maybe shutting up was Luffy’s way of cooperating.

 

“Not a warlock per se…” Sabo said again, smiling like he wasn’t aware that he was doing it, “But close.”

 

“Wait, wait, are we going to let Sabo talk about  _ that _ ?” Ace slapped his forehead and shook his head, which was very intriguing for the human, “Not  _ that _ topic…!”

 

“Close is better than none.” Law was starting to feel awkward with how Luffy was now trying to crawl towards the other side or lie on his lap or whatever. It irked him that the demon didn’t fucking care about this god damn bond’s status. At least show some civility, goddammit. Feign interest. Whatever.  _ Something _ .

 

Never mind. Law had a fire demon to work with.

 

“Care to share?” the human prodded on.

 

“Well, since you really wanted to know...” Sabo’s smile had turned smug all of a sudden. Ace just groaned loudly before waving at Law.

 

“Change the topic!” The eldest fire demon was now slapping his own knee to get Law’s attention, “Change the topic before he—!”

 

“I have a very beautiful human who is somewhat close to that.” Sabo began with much satisfied  _ pride. _ That made Ace groan again and lie on his back, limbs and head dangling from the table, feet flat on the floor. Sabo paid him no mind and just kept talking with shining eyes, “She can teach you more than a thing or two about mana manipulation. She’s really, really,  _ really _ amazing.  _ Really _ . And very pretty. Very, very pretty.”

 

The fire jinn sighed dreamily.

 

“Her shining blue eyes are like emeralds..”

 

“Emeralds are  _ green _ .” Ace grunted from where he was sprawled. Law wanted to laud him for making sense, but he needed Sabo’s… “connections”. Sorry, Ace. 

 

So was the jinn contracted like Zoro with Sanji?   
  


“You’re bonded with a human, too, Sabo?”

 

“It’s nice of you to think that but, no, I’m not.” Sabo almost fucking  _ blushed _ as he waved Law off and the human was not sure how his question was seen a compliment. “We’re just really, really intimate and…”

 

“You know what? You’re  _ the only one _ who’s saying that.” Ace sat up and resumed sitting with crossed legs on the table, “I bet she doesn’t even know what’s happening.”

 

“Shut up, Ace.” Sabo snapped with angry eyes at his older brother. It was much like how Luffy did when someone talked about Law in a way the demon found displeasing, “The only one who doesn’t know shit here is  _ you _ .”

 

“Oh? Last time she saw me, she was looking at me like—”

 

“Might I remind you that you jumped down  _ naked _ ? From the trees?” Sabo leaned forward so he was barely sitting on the chair anymore, “No one needed to see your balls descending from that height!”

 

Law was in conflict with himself about asking what happened or pretending he hadn’t heard anything. Jumping around butt-naked wasn’t a  _ thing _ for all demons, right? Or was it something they did during a full moon?

 

“That was when we trailed Sabo because we weren’t sure where he was hanging out anymore.” Luffy whispered from Law’s lap where his head was resting. That didn’t clear up anything. Why would Ace be naked in a tree? Was Luffy naked, too?  _ Why!? _

 

“So I had no clothes. Big deal.” Ace shrugged as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, “You mean to tell me she hasn’t she seen a naked man before?”

 

Sabo gasped loudly in disbelief. Law was grimacing without knowing it, but he knew he didn’t want to tread on where this conversation was going.

 

“Oh my fucking  _ god _ , Ace, I can’t—urgh!” Both of Sabo’s hands were messing up his own hair. “Arguing with you is like arguing with a wall!”

 

Law almost wanted to tell him he understood how that felt except he felt that line should be something he told  _ Sanji _ . Come to think of it, did Sanji ever meet any of Zoro’s… family? How did demons have  _ family _ even? Why were these three all different demons? Law had a fuckton of questions, but he was careful to choose which one to ask or risk starting a demonic debate that he was in no condition to preside over.

 

“A wall won’t punch you back, Sabo.” Ace outstretched his legs on the floor and leaned back on his palms, “You always win against a wall, but not against me.”

 

There was a small, angry spark between Ace and Sabo. It wasn’t visible, but Law knew it was  _ there _ .

 

“Oh really?” Sabo’s side glance was sharper than anything Law had in his kitchen, “You wanna fucking  _ go _ and test that out?”

 

Ace just ran a hand through his hair.

 

“Can you  _ bring it _ , love sucker?”

 

“The fuck did you call me?”

 

“You need me to punch your ears to make it work again?”

 

What the hell? Law’s system was automatically switching to defense mode again. How did these two end up getting pissed at each other? Were they going to fight? Please, no. Didn’t they say they were both  _ fire _ demons? Was Law’s house going to be okay?

 

“Hey, hey!” Luffy sat up with a frown, “No more fighting in my human’s home!”

 

“Silence!” Sabo hissed with angry fangs and red eyes for the very first time since he and Ace got here, “Talk to me when you can defend your own human!”

 

Ow. It was like a stone hammer smashed against Luffy’s chest so hard, even  _ Law _ winced. Luffy gasped. Sabo gasped. Ace gasped and grimaced. And then there was a second of very awkward silence that acknowledged how Sabo had indeed breached sensitive territory.

 

“You _mean_ _fucking_ —!” Luffy bit his trembling lower lip. Law felt the need to do something, but didn’t know exactly what. So he just sat there.

 

“Savagely classy, Sabo.” Ace stood up and tapped the jinn on the shoulder.

 

“Just shut up, Ace.” The demon in blue hissed again before scratching his head and turning to his little brother, “Luffy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

 

“Shut up! I don’t want to talk to you!” Luffy yelled before crawling onto Law’s lap for probably the hundredth time in the past two days. His fingers clutched onto the front of Law’s shirt before he proceeded with his favorite activity of burying his face against the man’s chest, “ Laaaaaaaaaaaw, comfort meeee!”

 

Great. Just  _ great _ .

 

“Yeah, well, I…” Law was still not sure what to do. Ace was not making any measure to be discreet about how he was  _ observing _ what Law would do to comfort his crying little brother. Sabo’s face, on the other hand, was a mix of confusion, guilt, and oh-my-god-help-me-human.  

 

“Well,” Law’s hand landed on Luffy’s head because his demon liked that, “I… Um… I thought… I thought you were impressive...”

 

Luffy lifted his head so slightly.

 

“Really?”

 

His nose and mouth were still against Law’s chest and his eyes had warped into those limpid pools of endearment. Law could imagine his little lips pouting or puckering while he spoke and the small vibrations Luffy’s voice made against Law’s skin wasn’t really something he hated. 

 

How cute.

 

_ Shut up, self. _

 

Law just nodded. Hopefully that was convincing enough.

 

“Aww.” Luffy curled into a small ball, his fingers tightening. And then he looked up again, leaning towards Law and saying, “Kiss?”

 

And then the little thing closed his eyes and puckered up without further ado. Law’s eyes slowly moved up to look at Ace who was absolutely  _ squinting judgmentally _ at him. What?  _ What _ ? Was he supposed to kiss Luffy or not? If he did, would that mean he was taking advantage? But if he didn’t, would that mean he was  _ depriving _ Luffy of happiness? Ace wasn’t saying anything when it was Luffy doing the mushy stuff earlier so was it or was it  _ not _ okay? How was Luffy giving kisses different from him  _ asking _ for one? 

 

Just what the fuck did Ace want him to  _ do _ ? 

 

Law’s eyes turned to Sabo. His face hadn’t changed. Not helping. He turned back to Ace who was now staring wide-eyed at him and nodding. Law could almost hear him say, “My brother is asking for a kiss.  _ Give it to him _ .”

 

That’s what he meant, right?

 

Well, maybe, if Ace wasn’t being so goddamn intimidating, Law would have gotten the message easier.

 

The man sighed and brushed his lips lightly against Luffy’s. Ace rolled his eyes so far back into his head (“Took you long enough”), Law thought he was going to lose his irises. But since he had this going on anyway, might as well make Sabo owe him a teensy one.

 

“Forgive your brother now, ‘kay?” the human whispered while ruffling Luffy’s hair, “He did save me, you know.”

 

“Mrrrrrmm.” Luffy closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, “Okay.”

 

Sabo released a big sigh of relief.

 

“Thanks, Luf—”

 

“Only because my boyfriend asked me to.” Luffy immediately snapped with a pout at Sabo who immediately raised his hands in defense, “Y-yeah. Of course, of course.” The jinn turned to the human, “Thanks, Law.”

 

That was surprisingly easy. Now to capitalize.

 

“So about meeting your human…”

 

Law could almost not believe he was hearing himself using the term “your human”. 

 

“Oh.” The fire jinn seemed to have forgotten. “Yeah, but… Well, I should ask first. They don’t like surprise visits.”

 

“I’d be grateful.”

 

Law tried to look like he was thankful. Most of the time, he just looked like he was a smug piece of shit. People had a hard time believing that he was actually thankful.

 

”Then... I’ll just drop by one evening when I get an answer.” Sabo just spawned his hat on his hand. What a convenient ability. The jinn put it on his head and Law got up because apparently, the demons were about to leave. Sabo then waved a finger at him and said, “Just don’t fall in love with her.”

 

“You’re saying that in front of me?” Luffy was standing next to Law, “Really? Rude. ”

 

Luffy’s fingers intertwined with Law’s almost instinctively. It seemed to have caught Ace’s eye because he was now squinting at Law. Again. What the  _ fuck _ ? Law locked his fingers around his demon’s and Ace seemed to approve of that. Funny how Ace mentioned that it was Sabo who spoiled Luffy when  _ he _ was practically using his glares to bully Law into giving Luffy what he wanted.

 

Wait, was  _ that _ why no one was mentioning how Luffy was being so showy awhile ago? They just let him do what he wanted? Well, that was  _ not _ fair at all.

 

“She’s  _ stunning _ , Luffy.” Sabo shrugged and Law decided to pay attention to him instead, “I’m just warning him.”

 

“So? Law’s  _ stunnest _ .” Luffy stuck his chest out because only  _ he _ can be proud of using a word that doesn’t exist while still making sense, “With all due respect, tell  _ your _ human not to fall in love with mine.”

 

“ _ Excuse me _ ?” Sabo legitimately sounded insulted and pointed to himself the very same way Ace did with his thumb earlier, “She has  _ me _ .”

 

For crying out loud. Law should just come out and say that he wasn’t really interested in a relationship. The one he had right now was like a god damn time bomb hooked to a speeding bullet. There was no need for another to complicate things. 

 

“That’s not much.” Ace finally joined the conversation as he leaned on Sabo as if to study him, “I can now see why Luffy’s worried.”

 

Sabo glared harshly again.

 

“Do you  _ really _ want to fucking  _ go at it, _ Ace!?”

 

Law now had a quick mental draft of a few additional things he might want to ask Sabo’s human. Was there any form of binding chain that could stop demons from acting up? And if there were, should Law consider bolstering his house with it? Were there arcane circles or pentagrams required to keep demons away from his immediate vicinity?

 

Moreover, how should Law keep Luffy under control? Did he need a potion? Or a special leash?

 

With a collar?

 

Trafalgar Law, stop that train of thought right the fuck now.

 

“Okay, you inconsiderate assholes!” Luffy stomped his foot and started punching his brothers in the arm, “I still need to feed!”

 

“Hey! What the fuck, Luffy!?” Ace flinched, stepping back and catching some of the punches with his open palms, “If you want to feed then just  _ feed _ ! I don’t want to fucking  _ join you _ !”

 

Law slapped his forehead. Luffy took a breath so pissed and deep, Law thought he was going to explode as he pointed at the door.

 

“Get out!”

 

* * *

 

Luffy knew a bad omen when he felt one. This was definitely one of those.

 

Now that Ace and Sabo were gone, Law and Luffy had the house all to themselves. Picking up where they left off was easy.  So why did they have to take separate showers?

 

Whyyyyyy?

 

Luffy rolled around Law’s bed with the man’s pillow in his arms while waiting for his human to come out of the shower. Sure, he had driven out both his brothers so he and Law could have sweet sexy time to themselves but Law was nowhere close to being aroused. And neither was he letting Luffy tempt him. Seriously, no one could really blame him after what Ace did but... Dammit, why were his brothers so stupid?!

 

But his human said they were going to resume their activity, right? Luffy was going to hold him to that. Not a single speck of Law’s smoking hotness could convince Luffy to drop the idea of getting fucked tonight. He’d waited two days. That was far too long for an incubus. And if Law didn’t want that, well, Luffy had to take matters into his own hands, then. Yeah, he could do that. He could just stir Law into the right direction without caring for what he actually wanted and…

 

The sound of the bathroom door opening made Luffy lie flat on his back. He tilted his head back and saw—albeit upside down—Law coming out of the shower in sweatpants and a shirt. His hair was barely damp. Luffy knew why. Law kept a god damn hair dryer in his bathroom because he didn’t like going to bed with wet hair and getting his pillow soaked in any way. He knew because Law blow dried Luffy’s hair earlier. He liked that, but not as much as feeding.

 

“Hey, baby.” Luffy called.

 

Law glared.

 

Fuck, wrong nickname. Wrong timing. Human is now pissed.

 

“We’re not having sex, are we?” Luffy almost groaned, realizing that he, in fact,  _ cared _ what Law actually wanted.

 

“You’re expecting me to still be in the mood after I was caught off-guard by your brothers that you never told me about?” Law walked towards the laundry basket and frowned at the increasing pile inside it before throwing in his own clothes. It seemed laundry day should be moved back earlier than he thought. Dammit.

 

“Well, I just…” Luffy rolled to his side so he could look at Law, “Couldn’t find the right timing to bring it up.”

 

What a horrible excuse.

 

“Luffy, that was so  _ crucial _ . You should’ve brought that shit up on  _ day one _ .” Law put his hands on his waist as he looked at his demon on the bed, “Is there anything else you’ve hazardously forgotten to tell me? Because I want to take precautions in case a dragon comes knocking next time to introduce himself as your father.“

 

Luffy made a small noise.

 

“No, munchkin. Nothing  _ that _ extreme.”

 

Law sighed and switched his side table lamp on before heading to the light switch on the wall near the door.

 

“Have you met Sabo’s human before?”

 

The lights flicked off.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then why didn’t you tell me about her!?” Law wanted to switch the lights on just to help stress his words. Seriously, they’d been looking for a warlock since the first day. Why the hell wouldn’t Luffy bring up his brothers  _ or _ his brother’s kinda-warlock human!? Did he really want to get out of this bond!? Law was so fucking annoyed. What else did Luffy know!?

 

“Well!?” Law wanted to learn how to hiss like a demon.

 

“I just didn’t think…” Luffy mumbled before he sat up. The only light in the room was from the lamp that outlined Luffy’s features well enough so Law could see him frown, “Well, it’s not like you told me anything about Cora-san either.”

 

“That is an entirely different thing!”

 

“It’s still  _ family _ , Law!” Luffy put the pillow down heavily on the mattress. He sounded frustrated. Law brushed it off. The demon continued talking, “You never talk to me about  _ your _ human family! Why should I!?”

 

“I don’t have to, Luffy!”

 

“Well, it’s a compromise!” Luffy crawled towards the edge of the bed closer to Law, “Tell me about your—”

 

“Fuck you and fuck that, then!” Law literally hit the wall with the side of his fist, making Luffy fidget backwards on the bed in surprise, “I’m not telling you anything!” Law took angry steps towards his demon who hastily grabbed the pillow next to him. Luffy continued moving further back from his human.

 

“Who do the fuck do you think you are to even ask me to talk about that?! You have no business asking about my family! What do  _ you _ care!? What the fuck do you even—!”

 

Law’s voice was like a thunderstorm. He knew not because he heard but because he’d never really seen Luffy look at him like he was now. And he’d never seen his demon move away from him like that. There was so much confusion and worry in his gaze as he clutched the pillow, knees slightly bent towards himself. He held his breath, waiting quietly for what Law would do next.

 

“Okay, that was…” the human took a deep breath, both of his hands trying to swipe the expression off his face, “Luffy… I…” 

 

Luffy—the incubus who fought his strong as fuck older brother and worried about nothing more than his human’s life the entire time—was not saying anything. He was still sitting there, waiting, not looking like a demon at all. And Law? Trafalgar Law was an asshole for lashing out at the creature who had protected his ungrateful, unethical,  _ dipshit _ excuse for a host’s ass.

 

Just because he asked about family.

 

So. Fucking.  _ Classy _ .

 

“Luffy…” The mattress dipped as Law climbed knee first onto the bed, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to lash out at you like that.” His tattooed hand reached out to the incubus and he was about to say “come here”. It felt wrong, though. Maybe he should be the one to approach Luffy for a change.

 

Law crawled further so he could sit on the spot next to Luffy.

 

“I’m sorry, Luffy. I just...”

 

What was the best, non-agitated way to say that Law’s issues had nothing to do with Luffy?

 

“I’m sorry, too.” Luffy slowly and carefully crept into Law’s arms to enjoy a hug, “I’m sorry for not telling you things.”

 

Law didn’t know what to say to that, really, but it didn’t look like Luffy was expecting a response. Law leaned back against the headboard and put his arms around the small body next to him. Luffy moved closer so he could drape his arms and legs over his human as he hummed contentedly on the man’s shoulder. Law spent several seconds contemplating whether he should kiss Luffy on the forehead before deciding to just breathe into his hair.

 

“Thank you, though.” Law whispered.

 

There was something comforting about the smell of Law’s own shampoo on Luffy’s hair.

 

“For what?”    
  


“For fighting your brother to protect me.” Law let one of his hands stroke Luffy’s cheek. Looking at him now, it was impossible to imagine that he was capable of literally fighting fire come to life. “I appreciate that a lot, Luffy.” Without thinking, Law pushed Luffy’s chin upwards so he could kiss him on the forehead, “I really do.”

 

Luffy swallowed hard and Law knew his little face was heating up. Was he embarrassed? Or really happy? Luffy always had a swirl of emotions that was difficult to understand because they were multiple things all at once. He was looking at Law like he couldn’t believe what happened. His mouth was open, unsure whether to smile or laugh or talk or just… wonder.

 

“I…” Luffy finally managed to say.

 

“Hmm?” Law brushed his hair off his face. For the first time, Law felt like he could feel Luffy’s heart beating so madly. Like it was going to explode with so many feelings.

 

“I’ll do anything for you, Law.” the demon pushed himself up, “ _ Anything _ .”

 

Sometimes, feelings made people say things they didn’t really mean. Law wondered if it was the same with demons. If Sabo’s outburst was anything to go by, he’d say it were possible. It was nice to hear, though— _ I’ll do anything for you. _

 

“Thanks, Luffy.”

 

Thoughts to the wind, Law bent down and pressed a sincere kiss on the boy’s lips. He could still feel his incubus’ heart trying to escape his chest. Law wanted to grab that feeling and take it all for himself. 

 

Luffy moaned like he was asking a question, wondering if Law had indeed just kissed him out of his own volition. And he did. Law wanted him to know that he  _ did _ do it on its own. There was no temptation whispering into his ear to drive his hormones mad. He was just thankful. And happy. And… had some feelings he couldn’t sort out at the moment. Those emotions were in the corner of Law’s mind, throwing pebbles of thoughts whenever Law had to ponder about anything concerning Luffy.

 

The boy’s hands came up, pulling Law down towards him. Law’s hands encircled his waist and one of his hands slid up to support his back. Luffy opened his mouth and Law indulged by gently swiping his tongue over Luffy’s bottom lip, not at all hungry for this, but strangely comforted. He was satisfied, in fact, with the little coo of delight that his demon spilled for him. There was no rush. Luffy was here now. He was going to be here tomorrow still.

 

“Hey…” Law whispered, gently sucking on Luffy’s lower lip, “I’m…”

 

“Exhausted. I know.” Luffy mumbled before Law’s attempt to explain anything could chase away the nice cozy feeling around them, “Just blood is fine. Like last time.”

 

“So…” Law closed his eyes as Luffy lightly rubbed their noses against each other. That made the human laugh softly because nose kissing was silly. Luffy laughed with him and kissed him gently.

 

“So how about you feed then we go to sleep…” Law continued, “Then we talk tomorrow?”

 

“That sounds great.” Luffy’s smile was small, but it was radiant nonetheless, “Talking, I mean.” 

 

“Great.” Law’s voice was barely audible as Luffy crawled on top of him.

 

“Great.” Luffy smiled, pecking one more kiss before gently brushing Law’s hair away from his face and saying, “But we’re definitely having sex tomorrow night. I won’t let you say no to me anymore.”

  
**-End of Chapter 12-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a crapton of things I’d like to say but I don’t know if I should. But fuck it, yes, Ace and Sabo are going to make future appearances and woo! Koala! And also, I’m finally headed to actually writing actual sexy time! Or am I? 
> 
> Hint: I am.


	13. Daybreak

Sometimes, dreams were memories. Or maybe memories were dreams. Law liked neither.

Law remembered being four years old. He remembered falling asleep and being carried into his carpeted bedroom twice the size of his current living room. He remembered the chandelier on the fancy ceiling and his study desk between two full bookshelves next to the heavily draped windows. He remembered being placed onto his large bed, one with a pillow top mattress large enough to probably accommodate three adults, but only had one small child among the large pillows. He remembered waking and looking up to see the tall, blonde man who quietly and carefully carried him all the way from his playroom to his bedroom. 

 

Law could recognize the man even with his eyes closed.

 

“Uncle...”

 

“Yes.” The man sounded calm and pleased. His voice was smooth, but strong. “Very good.”

 

Law smiled to himself for doing a well enough job to deserve praise. But he’d fallen asleep in the middle of playing and he thought it was rude of him to make his uncle to carry him back.

 

“I’m sorry you had to carry me.” Law muttered sleepily. His eyelids felt heavy, but he tried focusing on the person in front of him.

 

“It’s fine.” his uncle pulled the blanket up to his chin, “You’re a frail child.”

 

“Thank you.” Law smiled faintly. He wanted to smile wider but he was so, so sleepy. “One day, I’m going to get well. And you won’t have to carry me anymore.”

 

“Of course.” his uncle’s voice sounded like he was pleased and Law did his best to keep on smiling back quietly. “Now go to sleep. You need to rest.”

 

Law nodded.

 

He remembered how large the hand was when it stroked his hair, how it was both gentle and strong, how it would always be there to guide and protect him. He remembered leaning into the secure warmth over his head, thoughts lingering about being a very strong person one day. He remembered closing his eyes slowly as he let his consciousness plunge into the realm of slumber.

 

The last thing he always remembered was his beloved uncle’s pink feathered coat.

 

* * *

  
  


It was the sunlight that had awoken Law from his sleep-induced vision, not the alarm as he’d always expected. He preferred loudness and vigor waking him from unpleasant dreams. It made him feel like the world was just as angry about it as he was.

 

What time was it? 

 

Blinking away the grumpiness and the sleepiness, Law moved to turn towards his bedside table. Multiple hair strands ended up poking at his nose, making him sneeze slightly as he shifted on the bed. He realized he was lying on his side and that he could no longer feel his right arm that Luffy’s head was on. 

 

The incubus slept soundly and breathed softly. Law thought that peacefulness didn’t go well with how the demon’s limbs were so  _ aggressively tight _ around his human’s tattooed torso. Law was used to waking up surrounded by four soft pillows, not a possessive demon trying to affectionately strangle him in his sleep. Was Luffy expecting his host to flee or be stolen in the middle of the night?

 

With a sigh, Law looked towards his side table. The digital alarm clock had been knocked down. Great. Just another thing to be pissed about. This morning was starting off horribly, horribly wrong already.

 

Law tried to roll back to lie on his side so he could eventually pull out his right arm from under Luffy, but the boy just nudged closer, hugging tighter. This wasn’t making his morning any better.

 

“Luffy.” the man mumbled mostly just to react than to wake up the sleeping demon beside him. That would have been scary on any other occasion. If fantasy novels were anything to go by (they probably weren’t), stirring demons in their slumber was not something humans should do unless circumstances were dire or unless they wanted to be killed (or be engaged in battle, whatever). Luffy, however, didn’t look like a demon to Law at all. At least not right now. 

 

Especially with those  _ marks _ trailing down his neck.

 

With his free hand, Law thoughtfully traced the reddish blue spots, connecting them like a god would do with constellations. And, yeah,  _ god _ was the right term to use because Law felt so damn  _ almighty _ when he marked his demon. He could vaguely remember putting each one on Luffy’s skin, but the rewarding moans and sighs were much more prominent. Every encouraging sound from the passionately delighted demon had Law adding more and more, making sure that they told the story of how this body already belonged to someone else. That these were  _ his _ marks. On Luffy. His very own incubus. 

 

There was some sort of pride that welled up from his gut whenever he reminded himself of that and he often wanted to kick himself internally for feeling so smug about his  _ problem _ . Having an incubus was more than just having a pet. He couldn’t even teach Luffy how to behave or think, which got on his nerves so much because he wasn’t a fan of unpredictable circumstances. 

 

Luffy, however, was like sunshine in his own way. Sunshine pissed you off sometimes when it went through the window and cast an inconsiderate glare on your eyes but you could never really hate it. The only difference was that sunshine belonged to everyone. Luffy belonged to Law. Not by choice, though. He had to remember that. Luffy was his by accident.

 

So, yeah, these marks meant nothing. Law had a giant one on his own neck, but that didn’t prove anything, did it? Law could remember how that mouth felt against his skin that night. God, that was a new kind of amazing. Did Luffy ever look at it and thought “Luffy was here”? Was there a reason that Luffy only put one on him? Honestly, though, Luffy didn’t need to put multiple hickeys on his human. Law was already covered in Luffy’s swirly symbols.

 

There were already a lot of marks on Luffy’s neck, but Law somehow felt like he wanted to add more.

 

_ Somewhere here _ .

 

Law traced along Luffy’s collar bone. The slight contact made the demon hum in his sleep. Law’s dick responded by  _ twitching _ . 

 

Fuck. No. Down.  _ Stay down _ . 

 

It was only at this point that Law realized how they had slept in their boxers. Goddammit. This was the second night in a row already. Coming in their pants whenever Luffy fed  _ had _ to stop. Aside from it made the laundry pile up higher and faster, it also had the potential to make mornings…  _ hard _ . 

 

Well, tonight would be different. Law was hoping to actually have uninterrupted sex with Luffy later in the evening, which meant that orgasming was  _ not _ going to happen inside his pants anymore. He was definitely going to be  _ inside _ though.

 

Ah, shit. What had become of Law? Looking forward to having sex with a demon first thing in the morning? Pathetic.

 

Law wiggled a bit and started pushing Luffy’s arms off him, but the only response he received was a groan and a tighter hug—tight enough for him to cough.

 

“Luffy.” Law slapped the demon’s forearm, “Luffy, let go.”

 

“Laaaw.” Luffy mumbled. It wasn’t clear whether he was sleep talking, half-awake, or aware and responding. His human’s name had almost become his default response when he was either stressed or spacing out.

 

“Luffy!” Law pushed Luffy’s arms harder. The incubus frowned, but slightly loosened his embrace, which allowed Law to free himself from the morning bear hug. Luffy grumbled and started reaching out like he just changed his mind about letting go of his human. Law quickly moved out of his reach and threw a pillow into his arms. That seemed good enough for his demon, mumbling incoherently as he hugged the soft thing that smelled like Law.

 

After a nice short stretch, Law reached for the digital clock that had fallen face down on his side table. It only took Law half a second for him to read the time, jump out of bed, and roar “What the fuck!?” all at the same time. The human’s alarm and the bouncing of the mattress was enough to startle Luffy and make him sit up hurriedly, wide awake and alert, trying to pick up on the man who had dashed towards the shower as soon as his feet touched the floor. 

 

Well, if Law could do that, he’s certainly in good health. But what was he so worried about?

 

“Munshk-ahaaaaaahhh!” Luffy yawned loudly as he hunched forward.

 

“It’s already seven!” Law’s voice came from the bathroom as the door slammed closed.

 

Seven? And? What was the point? Luffy wet his lips and scratched his head before mumbling, “Good morning.” 

 

The only response he got was the sound of spraying water from the bathroom. Luffy sighed and threw himself back to bed.

 

Maybe he should let Law sort his shit out on his own.

 

* * *

 

 

Luffy could _ not _ let Law sort his shit out on his own. 

 

At least not without going on a frantic mindset himself. Law’s thoughts were  _ everywhere _ all at the same time and Luffy really wasn’t sure how he was going to help his human calm down. What on earth would make him panic this much?!  _ What _ !? Law’s mental notes of breakfast, lunch, shoes, university, library, recataloging, Robin, Sanji, Kalifa, Bonney, Penguin, Shachi, signature, dean, permit, assessment, and lecture  _ to name a few _ were all tossed around in an even bigger array of thoughts that Luffy knew he couldn’t hold even if he had eight hands. How could anyone have so many things going on in their head and not go crazy?

 

Well, maybe it would have been easier for Luffy to think if he had only been able to get out of bed properly without his arousal bugging his entire sanity.

 

When Law came out of the bathroom earlier slightly dripping wet and with only a towel on (for fuck’s sake!), Luffy’s logic and proper judgment just jumped out of the window at the same time he jumped at Law. The human was, of course, not happy about it because “It’s past seven!” 

 

As if  _ that _ made any sense. 

 

With much perseverance, Luffy had successfully managed to hungrily kiss his human wherever his lips landed but Law’s  _ professionalism _ was much stronger. Luffy thought he already smelled sex in the air when he managed to yank the towel off the man’s waist, but that opportunity turned out to be  _ bait _ . All it took was a second or two of staring at Law’s gorgeous nudity before Luffy found himself being thrown (Kicked? Pushed? Tricked?) out of the bedroom. The demon felt cheated. It was unfair for Law to use his gloriously naked body as a distraction. The urge to break down a door had never been so strong.

 

But that was awhile ago. Luffy had gone from hot and bothered to frantic and confused before he knew it. Why else was he holding three pairs of Law’s shoes as he ran up the stairs and then down again before dashing into the kitchen where Law was trying to... make breakfast? Or lunch. Just food. Whatever.

 

“Law.” Luffy huffed and the human just spared him a glance before taking a second look with wide eyes at how his demon was holding six pieces of footwear in his arms.

 

“What are you doing with those?!” Law looked like he wanted to charge towards Luffy, but he couldn’t let go of whatever he was mixing together in a plastic container.

 

“You need shoes.” Luffy said flatly like that explained everything. Law was still wearing socks and house slippers because walking around in shoes was the best way to get dirt all over the floor.

 

The man could only allow himself to be confused for a few seconds before looking back to his measly “toss everything in it and call it a salad” lunch preparation. He was on the verge of just calling Sanji because  _ how _ was it possible to make lunch every day?  _ How _ !?

 

“Don’t you need shoes?” Luffy was frowning slightly, “Am I not helping? Why do you need Sanji and not me?”

 

Oh, crap.

 

“What is it about Sanji, Law?”

 

“I just can’t figure lunch is what’s about Sanji.” Law sighed and let go of the two spoons he was holding. Why the  _ fuck _ was he using two spoons again? Never mind. He turned to his blender on the kitchen counter. Sanji had said fruit smoothies were a nice, quick way to have breakfast even on the go, which was basically what he needed now. Ah, god bless that man.

 

“Am I not helping?” Luffy sounded sadder.

 

“What were you trying to do with the shoes?” Law asked and started slicing apples into cubes as a mental image of Luffy’s pouty face tried to poke his consciousness. His intestines started knotting in a weird fluffy kind of way. 

 

“I thought you needed them.” Luffy’s voice wasn’t lightening up, “I always saw you wear one of these leather ones. So I thought…”

 

Leather? Was he supposed to wear leather today? Or was he going for rubber shoes or sneakers? What did his outfit dictate? He was currently wearing jeans and a white shirt, but he was going to wear a collared shirt over it later. Well, leather shoes would look good with the right jacket, maybe? Just so Luffy’s efforts didn’t go to waste? 

 

Law turned slightly so he could check which pairs Luffy had brought for him. That wasn’t a very smart thing to do when slicing apples, apparently, because he ended up almost slicing his own finger off. 

 

“Fucking shi—!”

 

Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration. His finger wasn’t going to come off, but he still managed to wound himself and was now bleeding as fuck. He hadn’t even finished wincing when Luffy already appeared in a quick blur next to him. The sound of the shoes hitting the floor across the room followed soon after, if not almost at the same time.

 

“You’re bleeding.” Luffy had grabbed Law’s wrist before he could say anything. The demon moved the tattooed hand closer for inspection, looking both worried and awed at the crimson sight of his human’s index finger. Staring hungrily, Luffy squeezed the bleeding digit with his own fingers, making Law wince. The boy seemed to like that, closing his eyes and licking his lips, while evidently savoring the small sound his human had made. He sighed pleasantly and opened his eyes again to look at the bleeding wound. 

 

Luffy tilted his head with a hum. Law had enough macabre and horror reference to have a good idea of what his incubus had in mind. Despite that knowledge, he didn’t have enough resolve to tell Luffy to stop. In fact, the bright red blood seeping out of the wound actually looked elegant to Law and a part of him really wanted to see Luffy lap at it. 

 

Without so much as a glance at Law for permission, the tip of the demon’s tongue very slowly licked the blood trailing down the side. It was just to prevent the trail from running down instead of actually licking it off clean. That should have been gross enough for Law to whack Luffy with a chopping board while yelling profanities. But, no. The demon’s pink tongue was hypnotic enough to dull a man’s senses along with his logical thinking, gathering all of his attention to that spot where the incubus was tasting blood on his skin. 

 

Luffy hummed again, his tongue playfully lapping the crimson streak off.

 

“Don’t play with it.” Law wanted to sound like he was reprimanding the boy, but his voice came out like a begging, impatient noise that only made Luffy moan. The demon’s eyes flickered up towards his human who was barely breathing at the sight of Luffy enjoying his blood. Law’s blood. Luffy was enjoying  _ him _ . Something about that was so strangely satisfying and absolutely enticing that Law could  _ not _ take his eyes off what was happening. 

 

Breath had already been a bit scarce when Luffy began, but when he puckered his lips and slid Law’s finger ever so slowly inside, Law wondered where all the air went. Why was Luffy’s mouth so hot? How was his tongue so talented? Where did Law’s sudden yearning for the taste of Luffy’s mouth come from? Why was Law having flashbacks of seeing Luffy’s lips around his dick? And why was said dick eagerly responding to all of it?

 

Luffy slid the digit out of his mouth slowly again and fuck, Law’s brain was fizzling with how his finger felt wet. Why was that even an issue? A wet finger wasn’t supposed to be enticing at all. Really. But what if said finger was only half out of a hot little incubus’ mouth before it slid back in again with such  _ haste _ ? And what if said hot little incubus wasn’t even  _ done _ yet? 

 

With one huff, Luffy slid Law’s finger out and then right back in up to almost at the knuckle. And then he did it again. And again. And then faster. And then… And then…

 

And then Law was clutching onto the counter behind him because why was his god damn finger receiving this kind of treatment from Luffy’s mouth? Was there such a thing as finger blow jobs? What was this called? Was Law fingering Luffy’s mouth or… or...

 

That last question had Law slipping a second finger between those nice soft lips before he could undergo any coherent thought process. The startled sound it elicited from Luffy also didn’t help Law to think straight. It, in fact, just formed a thicker fog around his brain because the incubus actually sounded like he was enjoying being invaded like this. Those were just  _ fingers _ , dammit. What was so enjoyable with  _ fingers _ ? Or was Luffy trying to tell him something else? Like this was good, yeah, but maybe he’d like something  _ bigger _ ? Or maybe he’d like these fingers  _ somewhere else _ ? 

 

This had been a morning of questions so far.

 

“Shit, Luffy, I want a fucking blow job.”

 

And that just officially made this a morning of  _ all wrongs _ .

 

That last statement was so unexpected, Luffy’s breath hitched while gasping with his lips still around Law’s fingers. The last words lingered inside Law’s skull as part of his brain just  _ shrieked _ in horror about what he’d just said. But the mischievous, excited demon wasn’t about to let him take back what he said. Without any further ado, second question, or hesitation, Luffy dropped to his knees, fingers flying towards the waistband of Law’s jeans, and was unbuckling his belt, and unzipping his pants in record time.

 

“L-Luffy, no, wa—Ghk!”

 

The man almost choked and quickly found out how Luffy mouthing against his clothed erection was an effective way of not making him finish a sentence. It wasn’t entirely unwelcome, though. But it should be, shouldn’t it? No, why should it? If it’s—Oh, holy fuck, his dick just sprung free. Law could feel his pants and his boxers sliding down his thighs.

 

Both of Law’s hands grabbed onto the counter, unaware how his finger was no longer bleeding or wounded. He looked behind him thoughtfully, hoping he wouldn’t further aggravate the situation by accidentally catapulting the knife into the air when Luffy’s mouth took him in. Which was now.  _ Now _ . 

 

The hotness that was engulfing his length made little popping sounds at the back of Law’s mind. Luffy’s head then  _ immediately _ bounced in front of the man’s crotch like this was a god damn  _ race _ . His cheeks were already hollowed from sucking as soon as he could, eyes pleasurably closed, and tongue running against Law’s dick that he had taken in full in just one go. There was no slow start heading to a gradual build up. Taking his time didn’t seem to be an option and Law wasn’t allowed to process what was going on. Luffy started quick, heated, frantic, and excited—guns blazing, if that was a term anyone could use to describe a blowjob.

 

The human cursed like an automatic machine gun. He wasn’t ready for this. This wasn’t part of the plan. This wasn’t part of his morning routine. He could add it, though. Couldn’t he?

 

“Damn… Yeah…”

 

Law wasn’t sure if he was answering his last question or just being appreciative of how hot Luffy’s mouth was. The boy’s fingers were grabbing onto his human’s thighs as he took in Law’s full length with unbelievable smoothness and ease. 

 

“F-fuck.”

 

Luffy moaned back and Law was not in the right mind to figure how he understood that as “Yeah,  _ fuck _ .” 

 

“Fuck!” 

 

That was Law again, his hips jerking forward in surprise as his cock hit the back of Luffy’s throat. The incubus moaned louder. He was asking, no,  _ begging _ for it again. For more. How could Law not deliver? How could he not provide? It almost felt wrong not to fuck this little mouth.

 

Long tattooed fingers landed on Luffy’s head to grip his hair as he pushed his hardness deeper, lost in the thought of shooting his load down Luffy’s throat. Those hot lips were already at the base, but somehow, Law  _ still _ wanted him to take more. And Luffy  _ still _ wasn’t complaining and tried to move his head to the rhythm Law was forcing him to. His eyes were  _ still _ blissfully closed, fingers digging into Law’s thighs, and lips  _ still _ around his beloved human’s hardness. His tongue was absolutely magic and Law would probably never understand—didn’t really want to right now—how Luffy was able to work his mouth like it was an excellent piece of heaven.

 

More. Law wanted Luffy to suck and lick him more.

 

“Mmh. Mmmhhh…!”

 

Luffy always sounded like he was never going to get enough of Law’s cock no matter what.

 

It was impossible to keep Law’s hips from thrusting forward again. Luffy met him halfway this time, making it feel like he just took the man in  _ much deeper _ . That was not possible, was it? Well, not unless Law’s dick was drastically changing in length, but  _ damn _ , it seriously felt deeper and hotter and wetter and Law was just a hair’s breadth away from spilling everything he had right into the demon’s throat.

 

“Lu… Ngh... Luffy...”

 

So close. So damn close. 

 

Law’s breath was hitching irregularly. His head had thrown back and his eyes had closed without him knowing it because he was to immersed in all the pleasure Luffy was offering right now. His chest was heaving like he had been running, jumping, crawling, and swimming at the same time. And yet he’d never left his spot. How could he? The sensations attacking his soul had impaled him to where he was standing with trembling legs. 

 

Oh, but he wasn’t standing still. No. Not at all. “Still” is not what anyone would call thrusting uncontrollably into Luffy’s mouth while gripping his raven hair tightly, forcing him to meet the pace of his hips. Stopping himself from plunging his dick into Luffy’s mouth was impossible in his state of  _ delirium _ . Luffy just kept moaning in pleasurable delight, letting Law do whatever the fuck he wanted and practically begging to taste his come. 

 

That last thought was probably what caused the bright fireworks flashing even behind Law’s eyelids. He could still feel his hips moving desperately with his release, his thighs shaking in both pleasure and strain, struggling to keep himself up as Luffy fucking  _ drank _ everything. The demon just kept on making those sexy little sounds that just made Law grip his hair tighter so he could  _ somehow  _ ride his orgasm.

 

“Ngghh… Luffy… Shit…!”

 

Law could feel his come shooting into Luffy’s throat. And sweet fuck, the incubus just… just…  _ swallowed _ and hummed and moaned and almost  _ cried _ like he’d been waiting for it all this time. Goddammit, Law could come again with just that.

 

The man panted as he leaned back onto the counter, fingers loosening and leaving Luffy’s hair. His tattooed hands grabbed onto the marble edges to keep himself up. It was a challenge not feeling awkward with how his underwear and pants were pooling below his thighs. He looked up, trying to catch air like he had to keep his head above the water to keep himself from drowning. 

 

Law opened his eyes slowly to check on his little demon. Luffy was still kneeling in front of him and licking his own wet lips, hungry eyes still focused on the human who was still telling himself to keep breathing.

 

Luffy looked at Law’s face then at his dick and then at his face again.

 

What? Did he want more?

 

“More.” Luffy’s voice was just a breath from where he was sitting and good god, Law wanted to keep hearing that.

 

“Law, I need more of you.”

 

Oh, god.

 

“Luffy, I’m  _ late _ .” Law pushed himself lamely off the counter and clumsily pulled his clothes back up. Great. Now he felt like he needed to change again. Also, he was  _ still hard _ . Dammit. Not  _ this _ problem again.

 

“If you’re already late, what’s the hurry?” Luffy hadn’t gotten up, “You’ll still be late whether or not you make me come so...”

 

Law could feel  _ something _ respond in his pants upon hearing that. That’s been happening a lot this morning and Law was glad dicks didn’t make sounds. 

 

The little demon was still naughtily looking up from the kitchen floor where he sat. Law found he could not help but be distracted by the marks on both sides of Luffy’s neck. Again, he noted how there were a lot, but at the same time not enough.

 

“Not now, Luffy.” The man grunted and walked over to the sink to wash his hands. He wasn’t sure why he was doing that. He just felt like he had to.

 

“That’s not fair.” Luffy slowly got up, but made no move to approach his human, “I made you come. You have to return the favor.”

 

“I didn’t  _ ask _ for it.” Law turned the faucet off and dried his hands on a towel.

 

“No.” Luffy’s voice was firm, “But you said you wanted it.” 

 

Did he? Law paused and thought back. Yeah, he kind of did say that.

 

“Why wouldn’t I give you what you wanted when I could provide?” Luffy’s voice was slowly approaching along with a thick, heavy aura that was starting to surround Law. It was nothing scary, though. It was actually very enticing, like a mist in the woods beckoning curious minds to explore what was beyond the maze of trees. Law immediately and mentally penned that in as  _ dangerous _ . He must  _ not _ turn to see Luffy, must not look into those deep round eyes at all or he was going to get kissed and then  _ lost _ . And they would be fucking on the floor before he knew it. 

 

Was that a bad thing?

 

Not generally, but now wasn’t a good time. He was going to be  _ so _ late. And he couldn’t skip going to university today.

 

“You know…” Luffy was behind him. The demon had his hands to himself, but Law could somehow feel the fingers on his skin, “I don’t understand why you won’t fuck me right now even if I’m all for it.” 

 

Well, it wasn’t like he wasn’t going to fuck Luffy  _ ever _ . He was. Really. He was hoping  _ tonight _ , just not  _ right now _ . 

 

“Or…” Luffy’s voice sounded like he was much closer that Law thought he could feel breath against the back of his neck. But, no, this was all in the mind. And Law had to keep telling himself that if he wanted to make it to university as soon as possible.

 

“...Do you want  _ me _ to fuck  _ you _ ?” Luffy whispered naughtily and Law found himself repeating the question in his head just to be sure he heard that right as Luffy continued talking, “Because I can roll with that, too.”

 

Wait, wait, wait. What was that? Was Law hearing right? Did this little shit know what he was talking about? Law did  _ not _ bottom. Not in his previous relationships. Not in  _ this _ relationship. Not  _ ever _ .

 

“Luffy.”

 

It was a warning. Luffy didn’t pick that up, though.

 

“Do you want to bend over for me, Law?” 

 

Oh, _ excuse him _ ? 

 

“You know… Just to give it a try, hm?”

 

Okay. This demon needed to understand just who the fuck was in charge. If there was anyone who got ensnared here, it was definitely  _ not _ Law. So if Luffy thought he was the dominant party between the two of them just because he had  _ fangs _ , he was gravely mistaken. Law took a deep breath to calm his nerves and condition his mind. He was going to show this little punk what the fuck subjugation  _ meant _ and how dominance wasn’t about who was physically stronger.

 

“You want to try shit, Luffy?” Law grunted, more of a threat than a question, but the demon was unfazed. He even laughed lowly and took a step towards Law who still hadn’t turned, but knew full well how it was meant to be a bolder move than it seemed. The demon had stepped into his personal space. What was the humanl going to do about it?

 

Well,  _ something _ , obviously.

 

Law turned around and how he managed to grab Luffy by the jaw in one swift movement, he wasn’t sure. But that startled the demon, too, which was good because that was what Law was going for before fiercely crashing their mouths together.

 

A bomb just went off in Luffy’s head as soon as he felt Law’s lips moving over his. This was not the first time they kissed, but this was the first time Law had came onto him so  _ hungrily _ . The fingers on his jaw were tight and Law’s other hand was on his neck to keep him in place. Luffy had no intention of going anywhere, though. Oh, no. With Law moaning into his mouth like this, there was no place he’d rather be than here.

 

Now Luffy wasn’t called an incubus for nothing. He tilted his head accordingly, tongue immediately seeking Law’s own, which was already pushing into Luffy’s mouth. Law seemed to always make it a point to be the first to do any sort of exploration. There was no time for wondering why, though. 

 

Luffy’s fingers found the front of Law’s shirt and clutched onto it, pulling himself closer, twisting the material for some reason he couldn’t fathom. He moaned into the kiss, enjoying how Law’s tongue was viciously sweeping inside his mouth like no corner was going to be left untouched. And while that was all good, Luffy wanted to do some exploration of his own but Law wasn’t letting up. He tried pushing against Law’s tongue but the man leaned harder into the kiss.

 

The human growled. The demon whimpered.

 

No, Luffy. Denied. 

 

_ Denied.  _

 

Both of Law’s hands were now cupping Luffy’s cheeks and pulling him closer. Luffy felt so wanted, which was odd for him to notice. He was an incubus. Of fucking  _ course _ , he was going to be more than wanted. He was to be  _ desired _ for and  _ lusted over _ .

 

What made this any different? 

 

Because it was  _ Law _ . It was his beautiful, amazing Law that wanted him. And if Law wanted to take over then Luffy had no problem submitting. This man could have him any way he wanted, anywhere he wanted. It didn’t matter as long as Law  _ had him _ . Luffy just sighed dreamily into the kiss, arms encircling Law’s waist so Luffy could push himself upward, forward, anywhere towards this very delicious man.

 

Tattooed hands snaked around Luffy’s torso and were grabbing his ass in the next second. Luffy’s hips jerked forward in surprise and that was all the initiation he needed to grind against his human who—mother of fricken hell—deepened the kiss further, pushing against the smaller body so that Luffy was almost bending backwards now. It still didn’t matter. Luffy was flexible enough. He’d been in far more difficult and outrageous sexual positions in the past. He was an  _ incubus _ , he told himself again. Flexibility was basic as fuck.

 

The human growled into the kiss as tattooed fingers reached for the waistband of Luffy’s shorts. A flurry of arousal boiled and bubbled in his stomach and sent tingles down his spine enough to make his toes curl. Luffy’s grinding became frantic and erratic from all the excitement and anticipation as Law teasingly pushed the material down.

 

Was this it? Was this really  _ it _ ? 

 

“Luffy…” the man ran a tongue across Luffy’s lower lip, “Do you really want...?”

 

Was he  _ really _ asking  _ now _ !?

 

The demon practically  _ growled _ like Law had said something so offensive that he grabbed Law’s hand and plunged it into his shorts.

 

“What do you fucking  _ think _ !?”

 

It was cute how the man’s eyebrows shot up in surprise upon his palm coming in contact with Luffy’s own hardness. Was this the first time he was touching Luffy’s dick albeit being clothed? Well, he’d better get used to it because Luffy was sure as hell they were going to be doing this a lot. Ah, but, fuck, things were starting to slow down and that wasn’t good at all.

 

Before Luffy could say or do anything else—like kiss his human again—the hand pulled itself out of Luffy’s pants before he could feel himself being shifted. His vision blurred and he suddenly found himself facing the rest of the kitchen, his back against Law’s. Huh? What was he trying to do?

 

Feeling Law’s breath as he whispered so sexily into Luffy’s ear just erased any further inquiry he had of the human’s plans.

 

“I understand. I’m sorry I asked.”

 

Shit. Fuck. Hell.  _ Forgiven _ .

 

Did this man realize what the huskiness of his voice did? It made a demon’s knees weak and made his eyes close. It made his whole universe converge into a single spot so that his borrowed heart felt like it was going to burst. And Luffy could do nothing about it.

 

“Law.” He wasn’t aware he had said the name.

 

“Tell me…” Law pulled him closer and Luffy could feel the man’s mouth right next to his ear. The movements of his lips and his steamy breath danced with pleasurable heat across Luffy’s skin. Tattooed fingers slipped under the material of Luffy’s shorts and were soon tracing the waistband of his underwear, a finger hooking onto the material and tugging teasingly as if just to let his dick breathe some air. 

 

Stupid human. It didn’t need  _ air _ . It needed  _ sex _ , fucking dammit.

 

“Luffy…”

 

A sharp inhale was his only response he had to his name being called so lowly like that. He wasn’t sure if he was anticipating Law’s next move or his next  _ words _ .

 

“Luffy, can you tell me who’s in charge here?”

 

Oh god, damn it.  _ Fine _ .

 

“Y-you.” Luffy practically just exhaled his answer, “You are.”

 

Maybe Law’s tongue had magic. All it did was lick the back of Luffy’s ear and his brain immediately decided to turn into a circus of thankful monkeys jumping up and down. That was nice, but he wanted more. He wanted  _ more _ . 

 

“Ahgk!” 

 

Even the shudder that ran through Luffy’s body didn’t feel like it had completed itself when the pad of Law’s thumb brushed against the head of Luffy’s cock that was peeking from his underwear. Law’s hand wasn’t in his boxers at all, even. His fingers were simply cleverly pushing the waistband just enough so Law’s thumb could draw circles on the top of Luffy’s weeping dick. The demon whimpered, his legs becoming useless as he leaned back against Law. It was only then that he noticed how there was a tattooed arm braced around his torso to keep him from just slumping on the floor. 

 

Getting on all fours would be much easier. He’d be more than willing to.

 

“So…” It only took that steamy voice to rid Luffy of more strength and sanity. “Are you going to do as I say then?”

 

Oh god.  _ Oh god _ . 

 

“Y-yes. Yes, Law.” The demon was nodding as frantically as he could. “ _ Anything _ .”

 

“Good boy.”

 

Law’s voice sounded like he was making the sexiest smile in the entire planet and Luffy was  _ responsible for it _ . Oh-P-Q-R-we going to have sex yet? He needed some sort of higher power to save him from this excruciatingly pleasant excitement. Luffy felt the dire need to learn how to pray. _ Now _ . Because Law was nibbling on his ear, licking whatever he can, and Luffy was descending to the depths of utter uselessness. One hand slowly pushed down Luffy’s boxers to free his dripping, painful erection. Another hand was slipping under his shirt, fingers drumming and running across his abs like calling for a storm.

 

“Mother of, mother of, mother of…” 

 

Luffy wasn’t sure if he was going to bend or arch forward when Law’s fingers wrapped around his throbbing length. The sounds he was producing were very confused, needy, and foreign even to his own ears. He lifted his arms, reaching back so he could touch Law’s hair, but the human clicked his tongue and that made him stop.

 

“No, Luffy. You can’t touch me.”

 

The demon almost  _ cried _ .

 

“Not yet.”

 

_ Yet _ . Okay. That was good enough. He was going to try to wait until he could touch—

 

“Oh,  _ Law _ !” 

 

Two pumps had Luffy shivering uncontrollably again, hips moving in the wrong rhythm against Law’s stroking fingers. His shaking hands held onto the arm that was around his torso.

 

This was it, right? The most important foreplay of his life was about to happen?

 

“I really like how you sound, Luffy.” Law whispered like his voice was made of clouds. “And how you’re so warm.”

 

Yes. Yes, this was it indeed. Every word was a trap. Every sentence was a spell. Luffy didn’t care if he was getting out of this at all as long as Law got to claim him. His human was an abyss he didn’t care endlessly freefalling into.

 

“Law… Law…”

 

How was it possible to cling onto just a name? How was it possible for a human’s fingers to be this warm? How was it possible for a human to control a demon without manipulating his mana? How was it possible for Law to be undeniably so  _ supreme _ over him?

 

“I like how you feel in my arms.” The teeth against Luffy’s skin was tearing at Luffy’s attention from just focusing on the rhythm as the hand between his legs. “So perfect in my hands.”

 

Law squeezed him just right,  _ so right _ , he tried to swallow and breathe at the same time.

 

The man’s hair was brushing against Luffy’s temple. He could feel the heat form Law’s skin, the warmth of his breath, and the enchantment of his every word. Luffy loved everything about it. He wanted Law to know, but words were foreign things now. Gasping in time with Law’s rhythm was all he could hope to do.

 

“I like how you’re trembling as if you can’t help it.”

 

Since when had breathing not been something Luffy had to pay attention to? Wasn’t it second nature? Instinct? A need? Why did he have to keep telling himself to breathe when all he wanted to focus on was this foreplay?

 

“And I absolutely love how you’re mine.”

 

Fucking  _ heeeeell. _

 

Law sounded like an entirely different person now that Luffy’s brain was fogged. He didn’t sound like a human being. He sounded like a sex god that Luffy wanted to goddamn worship and be fucked by all day long.

 

“Yours.” 

 

That was his amen.

 

“ _ Yours _ , Law.” Luffy was breathing so hard and fast, but those words needed to come out. His consciousness was hazy but he had to let his human know how he was in total control of him right now. Luffy wanted that. He wanted to be called a good boy again.

 

“All yours.”

“Perfect.” Law pressed a long, lingering kiss against Luffy’s cheek. “Now listen to me, okay?”

 

Luffy nodded weakly.

 

“I’m going to fucking  _ fuck you _ …”

 

There were a thousand tiny needles prickling excitedly against the soles of his feet. He felt like he was going to come apart at the knees and elbows. The anticipation was draining to the point of breathlessness.

 

“...When I get back.”

 

God, just hurry— _ What _ !?

 

“Wha-arghk—!” 

 

Luffy attempted to push himself forward and away from Law, but his strength was gone, his limbs were jelly, and all his senses evaporated when Law’s fingers tightened and stroked harder. Just enough to keep things interesting. Just enough to keep Luffy’s consciousness from functioning properly.

 

“Ghk—at—Wha—ghk…!”

 

“I’m already late as I am.” Law mumbled, his breath starting to pick up faster with his movements, “And I can’t skip today.”

 

Who  _ cared _ !? What was  _ today _ ?! Focus on the god damned  _ now _ !

 

“P-please…” Luffy gasped before he could help it, “Just… quickly…”

 

“ _ No. _ ” 

 

Stern. Demanding. Powerful.

 

His word was a wall Luffy couldn’t hope to break. His mind wasn’t in the right state to resist  _ anything _ Law was asking of him. The fingers around his member tightened significantly, but not painfully. That didn’t keep Luffy from writhing and tightening his grip on Law’s tattooed arm. 

 

“I don’t want us to do it quickly.” Law placed a gentle kiss on his skin. Luffy wasn’t sure where exactly because the heat spread like wildfire so fast. “I don’t want our first time to be over before we know it.”

 

“Bu.. Bu—t…” Luffy leaned forward. His legs were failing him. It was only Law’s arm around his waist that was keeping him up.

 

“I want to explore you all night long.”

 

Shit. What was he saying? Luffy wanted that and didn’t want that. Law could just fuck him now and take his time later. What was the difference? They were both going to orgasm anyway. Luffy would make sure of that. So why?

 

_ Why!? _

 

“I want to take my sweet time making you feel good.”

 

Luffy’s tightly grit teeth were going to shatter with how Law was talking to him.

 

“So you will forever remember the first time I ever had you.”

 

This human. This god damned  _ human _ . He knew all the right buttons to push when he had to. What was Luffy even going to say to that?

 

“Wh-mhh-hnnng…!”

 

There wasn’t a coherent word coming out of his mouth but there were so much feelings spilling out of his borrowed heart. 

 

Yes, feelings. Luffy had so much  _ feelings _ . He felt like he wanted to scream, wanted to stomp, wanted to  _ cry _ . He was pissed that all he was getting was a handjob this morning but he was so fucking happy and he couldn’t figure why. He didn’t know where all these positive feelings were coming from, but he was helplessly drowning in it. He should be sad, furious, frustrated, disappointed, and provoked. But he wasn’t. He was happy. He was so damn  _ happy _ .

 

Because Law had given some thought to their “first time”?

 

“La—ah—hngg…” 

 

Luffy was struggling to keep his eyes open. If he closed them, he feared he might come and he didn’t want to yet. Not until he was sure Law was going to have sex with him afterwards. He wasn’t used to handjobs not ending with actual sex because those were supposed part of foreplay. It wasn’t a proper means to get an orgasm. At least not in Luffy’s book, no. He wasn’t supposed to enjoy this so much that it was driving him to tears. 

 

Tears?

 

“La… Nngguuhhh…”

 

Fuck, he was crying. He really was crying. His eyes were blurry from blobs of tears. Why? He wasn’t sad or angry at all. He was just… just…  _ happy _ . There was no other word. It was so damn pathetic but he was so fucking  _ happy _ . He cared and yet he didn’t. It was so damn confusing. 

 

“Luffy.” Law’s voice was sounding breathier and Luffy wasn’t sure how it was only now that he had the mind to feel the man’s hardness behind him. If Law was aroused and wanted this, what was stopping him from taking Luffy right here and now? What was more important than this? Him being late? Bullshit. Luffy had been with humans who would trade far more important things for a few minutes of heavenly sex. How was Law even to sort his shit out amidst his hormones?

 

_ So you will forever remember the first time I ever had you. _

 

Shit. So Law wasn’t exactly denying him right now? Did he just want their first time to  _ mean _ something? Something more than just carnal need? Did having sex with Luffy for the first time mean something more to Law? Something of value?

 

Law wanted him to “remember”? Law was considering what Luffy would feel  _ after _ they did it?

 

The demon tried to frantically feel his human’s thoughts but there was not a drop of emotion, not a word of contemplation. There was nothing.

 

That or Luffy couldn’t get inside Law’s head.

 

“In… Ins… Inside…” Luffy huffed, trying to blink his tears away, clinging onto the man’s arm and gasping for breath, life, sanity, whatever, “Need… Need… In… Inside me…”

 

“I will.” Law whispered once but Luffy heard it echo, “When I get back. I promise.  _ I promise. _ ”

 

“N-now… Please...” Luffy was sobbing. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep himself from climaxing. “Now… Law…”

 

“Now…” Law kissed his demon’s neck, “Just let me return the favor for now, okay?”

 

It wasn’t a question. It was a request. And Luffy had no power in him to say “no” after he conditioned himself to totally submit. Again, he tried to take a peek into Law’s mind, but Law’s hand started moving faster with his fingers wrapped tightly enough around Luffy’s erection. Every resistance was just  _ futile _ .

 

“You’re leaking so much.” Law mumbled against his shoulder, “God, you’re dripping.”

 

It felt like Law was exaggerating. But Luffy couldn’t even bring himself to look down between his legs to actually check if he was that aroused and close to coming. He was too busy trying to breathe and gathering all the amazing feelings he was having from Law’s hand rubbing him like he was the most interesting thing on the planet. He was gasping loudly, his chest rising and falling like the world depended on it. He couldn’t hear himself uttering Law’s name in between sounds that made no sense. He couldn’t feel his hips thrusting into Law’s hand. He couldn’t feel Law’s mouth sucking a new mark against his skin.

 

He couldn’t.

 

He really just  _ couldn’t _ .

 

“Luffy.”

 

Law licked his newest bitemark.

 

“Come for me.”

 

Those words held more power than Luffy could ever imagine.

 

Suddenly, he was pushed over the edge that he didn’t know he was already standing over. His orgasm washed over him like a cyclone, making him spill what he had in a giant wave of pleasure that blinded him behind eyes screwed shut. Just three words from Law asking him to come and he did. He fucking did. Just like that. Luffy wasn’t sure if he tightened his jaw or opened his mouth, but all he had in his head was Law’s name and Law’s scent. It was all that mattered in the surreal tidal wave he was riding until it calmed down.

 

He wasn’t sure how much of a mess he had made, but he was aware of Law’s voice in the background as he felt his body slide down towards the floor.

 

Luffy was so mentally drained, it was manifesting itself physically. Getting into Law’s mind once he’d established dominance wasn’t very smart. His head was floating in a hazy stream of feelings. Luffy was only half-aware of what Law was doing—the running water, the paper towel against his skin, the fingers fixing his clothing, and the hands shifting him on the floor. 

 

Assuming that Law’s mental strength was of an average human’s was a mistake. All Luffy wanted to do now was cuddle. After feeding twice over the past few days, cuddles after an orgasm was now good enough to be considered their tradition.

 

“Luffy?”

 

He wasn’t sure when or how Law had managed to clean them up in a jiffy, but he had collected enough of his scattered brain to register that he was in Law’s arms. At some point, his human had scooped him up and cradled him while they sat on the floor. Maybe Law now considered cuddles tradition, too. 

 

Luffy nudged closer. He still wanted sex. He was not sated at all. But he was, however, pacified. And he was willing to wait a bit more until Law sorted his shit out so Luffy could be on the receiving end of his full attention when he got back.

 

“Luffy.”

 

The demon just sighed quietly to acknowledge that he heard. Law sounded worried, but that could just be his imagination. He was in no condition to trust his senses right now.

 

“Are you okay?” His human asked right after. The hand that touched Luffy’s cheek had a nice balance of coldness and warmth with a bit of dampness from being washed maybe. “Did I make you feel bad? Did I do something you didn’t want?”

 

Huh? What was he saying? Luffy blinked to properly reorient himself as he felt Law shifting him again. He tried looking up, eyelids fluttering, eyes trying to focus on the man looking down on him. Law looked worried.

 

Why? What was wrong?

 

“Shit.” Law’s palm was wiping the dried trail of tears on Luffy’s cheeks, “You were really crying.”

 

He’d never really seen Law with this much concern in his eyes directed at him. What was he worried about? Was it not okay for him to cry in ecstasy? Was that bad? Did Luffy do something wrong?

 

“Fuck.” The feeling of his human’s palm against his skin was always,  _ always _ welcome. “Fuck, Luffy, I’m sorry.”

 

He was worried about Luffy? What for? What was he apologizing for?

 

“I thought… I didn’t think it was too much… I thought…” 

 

Um, was it such a bad thing if Luffy felt happy that Law was sporting this worried look for his sake? Half of his heart was telling him to wipe this sad expression from his human’s face, but the other half was dead set on beating as hard as possible so the world could hear it. Law—the man who didn’t waste time pretending to give a shit if he didn’t—was scared he’d hurt a demon he had been with for two full days.

 

That meant he cared for Luffy’s feelings, right? That he mattered to Law. That he was no longer a stranger. The hand on his face meant  _ something _ right?

 

“I’m sorry, Luffy. Are you okay?”

 

Luffy’s favorite question from Law was “How are you?” Now he was adding “Are you okay?” It made him feel important to this person that mattered more than all worlds combined. 

 

This feeling was dangerous. Luffy was starting to care less and less about his own wants and needs to make way for Law’s. An incubus wasn’t meant to be monogamous, but how could Luffy look at anyone else if Law was looking at him like this? The earth would eat him alive for ever considering anyone else than this amazing human.

 

“I wasn’t crying.” Luffy shook his head as gently as he could. He was afraid to shoo away Law’s thumb that was tracing the scar under his eye. “I was just… teary.”

 

“Why, though?”

 

Why? What did he mean why? He didn’t know? He couldn’t tell that Luffy was at wits’ end from how Law had managed to twist his thought process like it was a game? Where was he when Luffy plunged into that abyss of submission?

 

“Because…” Luffy felt his face growing hot so he rubbed his cheek against Law’s chest for some relief. “Because it was good.”

 

“Are you only saying that because I’m your human or something…?” Law sounded both pissed and confused at the same time. Again, Luffy felt guilty about how he was enjoying this.

 

“Luffy, if you’re saying that because you don’t want me to feel bad then  _ I feel bad _ .”

 

Why was Luffy feeling happy with Law feeling bad for him? He was supposed to be concerned about his beloved human. One of his main concerns for Law was happiness at all times, at all cost. Why was his distressed face making Luffy’s borrowed heartbeat scream like it was going to dissolve?

 

“You know,” Luffy nuzzled against the man while closing his eyes lightly to calm himself down, “I dream of the day you’re going to trust my words without having to ask again.”

 

“Could you just  _ please _ —”

 

“It was good, Law.” The demon sighed, a smile uncontrollably spreading across his face because it  _ had to _ . “It was really, really good.”

 

Never in his demonic fucking life did Luffy ever dream of himself describing a non-foreplay handjob as “really, really good”.

 

“Are you  _ sure _ ?” Law’s fingers ran through Luffy’s hair, “Are you sure I didn’t hurt you? I didn’t do anything you didn’t want?”

 

Luffy was tired of hearing this question and at the same time yearned to hear it more. He wished for Law to just believe him, but he also wanted his human to probe more about his well-being. That somehow prompted the question of whether there was actually anything Law could sexually do to him that he wouldn’t eventually want.

 

“You didn’t hurt me.” Luffy decided to just answer the question and explain a bit once and for all. “I’m just… I’m just not used to coming from… just a hand...”

 

Law stiffened. Luffy wasn’t sure what to read from that.

 

“You don’t like handjobs? Are you allergic to it?”

 

Thankfully, Luffy had enough strength to lift his eyelids and roll his eyes away. There he was with his weird assumptions again. Luffy was never going to understand where Law was picking up these weird theories from and why he was still trying to voice them out. He was wrong about incubi more times than he was right. Sure, he was asking a question this time and that merited some form of commendation, but _ allergic _ ? Really? Where did  _ that _ idea come from!?

 

“I’m allowed to have preferences, Law.” 

 

The human made some sort of confused noise that Luffy’s never heard him do before. What, was Luffy supposed to enjoy everything that was sexual just because he was an incubus? He didn’t exactly  _ hate _ getting jerked off, but there were much better things that could be done. 

 

Prior to today, Luffy was a hundred percent sure that he was never going to enjoy being on the receiving end of a handjob that wasn’t foreplay. Humans were weak creatures and with the exception of Law, Luffy hadn’t really come across anyone who was able to force or convince him into coming from being stroked, let alone enjoy it. He wasn’t even fond of touching himself unless it was to stimulate someone else. And even then, he never touched himself until he climaxed. What the hell for? If he wanted to orgasm, he could just pick out a victim and relieve himself while feeding. He was an  _ incubus _ . 

 

Real sex was always better. Handjobs just weren’t his thing. That was why it was overwhelmingly confusing how he managed to feel so happy in the middle of knowing that Law’s  _ hand _ was all he was going to get this morning. To the brink of god damn  _ tears _ .

 

Maybe that was why he felt embarrassed enough to curl into a smaller ball, face against the sanctuary that was Law’s chest. 

 

“Luffy?”

 

“What you did was supposed to be foreplay.” Luffy’s voice was muffled. ”I don’t…” He contemplated on the truthfulness of his next words and realized he wasn’t about to lie. “I never let humans touch me  _ like that _ .”

 

He really hadn’t. Really. As in  _ really _ . When anyone touched his dick, it was just up to several strokes before Luffy felt like it had to be inside something already.

 

“So… You’re saying…”

 

Law began like he was talking to himself and then finishing the rest of that sentence in his head. Was it  _ that _ unbelievable? Why was Law so smart and stupid at the same time? His fingers tightened around the front of Law’s shirt as he tried nudging closer so he could hide. He wasn’t ashamed. He just felt so…  _ awkward _ .  So embarrassed. So, so,  _ so _ embarrassed!

 

“This is the first time a human has made me come from a handjob, okay!?” Luffy pressed his face harder against Law’s chest. “Don’t make me say it again!” 

 

“Then… Then you didn’t like it?” Law was shifting like he was trying to look at Luffy’s face without trying to lift his head or anything, “I’m not giving you a handjob anymore forever if—”

 

“No.” Luffy looked up slightly to see his human staring down with curious eyes. “I’m your familiar. You can do anything to me, Law.” The demon pushed himself up, making sure he slid his body with just enough friction against Law as he whispered, “ _ Anything.” _

 

Law’s frown told him that the human either ignored or was oblivious to the suggestive maneuvering Luffy was trying to do.

 

Luffy was failing as an incubus, wasn’t he? Or was Law doing so well as a human? Was that even a thing?

 

“You’re not my property, Luffy.” Law said sternly as he pushed Luffy back slightly by the shoulder just so the man was sure the demon could see how serious he was, “I’m not fond of slavery. I need to know if I’m doing something you don’t like and…” 

 

Law bit his lip.

 

“Okay, look, I’m just…” Law ran a hand over his face and let it stay there for a few good seconds. He grunted, growled, sighed, and finally let his hand fall. “Look, I’m just not going to do that ever ag—”

 

“No.” It was Luffy’s turn to be serious, taking Law’s hand in his own to stress how he was being sincere. He hoped it worked. “Do it whenever you want to.”

 

“Lu—”

 

“ _ Law _ .” Luffy sat up properly and leaned forward so their foreheads were touching, “It’s your turn to listen to me.”

  
The man pouted. Luffy pecked a kiss on his lips because he was clearly asking for it.

 

“I’m telling you I liked it.” Luffy rubbed his nose against Law’s, “I love it if it’s you.”

  
Whether or not Law was convinced, Luffy wasn’t entirely sure. But that seemed to be a good enough answer to keep him from probing any further. He just sighed and nodded, inked arms wrapping around his incubus’ waist and pulling him down for a sweet kiss. And really, Luffy was in no position to resist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re not done. Not done at all. It’s going to be a long day of sexual tension for these two.


	14. Backlash

_ 9:00 AM. Dressrosa City street. _

 

Why in the fucking hell did traffic jams have to exist today? Was it to make sure Law was late or to give him time to sort his shit out before he got to work?

 

Waking up from a bad dream wasn’t how Law would’ve chosen to start the day, which progressed into a series of interesting activities that had him leaving the house half-hard and bothered. And now his car was moving at a snail’s pace. Dammit. Well, at least it was moving.

 

After a heated negotiation that involved promises of a livid sexual night and keeping the house clean and intact, Law and Luffy eventually agreed to leave the demon home alone. Law was actually contemplating on dropping him off at The Spirale again (despite the trail of hickeys), but according to Luffy, the cafe was Zoro’s territory and “here at home” was more comfortable. As boring as it was to be left alone, Luffy at least didn’t have to walk within the rules that Zoro had set. He also mentioned how he could now take pride in actually being left responsible to defend his human’s jurisdiction like some other demon was going to swoop down and plant a flag on Law’s doorstep.

 

Perhaps it was safe to assume that Law’s house was now considered as Luffy’s territory? Was that supposed to be a good or bad thing? Luffy was strong, but did that mean other demons would have to come and challenge him or something? What did having territories  _ mean _ to demons anyway? He should ask Luffy later when he got home.

 

After sex.

 

_ This is the first time a human has made me come from a handjob. _

 

“Dammit.” Law mumbled to himself as he did his best to focus on the road. Luffy’s words kept replaying themselves in Law’s head without warning.

 

But, shit, Luffy really caught him off-guard on that one. Law was not an idiot to expect Luffy to be a virgin. The chances of being an incubus’ first victim was too slim to even  _ hope _ for it. So knowing Law was  _ first _ at something sexual when it came to Luffy was just… Too good. But he knew Luffy wasn’t lying. Law  _ knew _ . His demon had never been touched like that before.

 

And oh, god, his  _ movement _ . He was shaking and writhing so much like he didn’t know what to do or how to properly react to Law’s ministrations. And the  _ sounds _ he was making? Holy hell, those were so sinfully  _ pleasurable _ . Luffy couldn’t even  _ talk _ right. 

 

Was it too conceited if Law felt _proud_ that he was so good with his hand, it drove his incubus to _tears_? Yeah? Too conceited? Fine. Be that way. Law was therefore a conceited son of a bitch who was now sticking with his pride. He made an incubus _writhe_ and _whine_ and _come_ _in his hand_. Using _just_ his hand. Why the fuck would he not be proud? He just wished he’d seen his demon’s face when he came. Why the fuck did he make Luffy turn around? Stupid fucking Trafalgar Law. 

 

Well, then, he was going to have Luffy on his back later. Wait. How would he do that if Luffy would be feeding on him? Dammit. He wanted to see Luffy’s face when he came. How!?

 

Just as he got to the intersection after moving in a slow-flowing swamp of vehicles, the traffic light went  _ red. _ That effectively made Law stop not only his car, but also his thoughts. With a sigh, he watched a stream of people spill from the sidewalk and into the street.

 

Hurry the fuck  _ up _ .  _ Please _ !

 

His watch read 9:05 AM. Great. He was late as fuck and he was hoping to clock in for library duty before ten. What time was he going to be out today? Three? He was just hoping Luffy wouldn’t manage to burn down his house while he was away. He’d left him food (that he didn’t really need) and he knew how to watch TV. Law had also hidden his laptop. Not that Luffy knew how to operate it, but he wasn’t taking any chances of coming home to Luffy on a goddamn porn site.

 

Or maybe  _ browsing _ a goddamn porn site was more accurate because what on earth would Luffy do  _ on _ or  _ in _ it, right? What would he—photos, videos… cybersex? 

 

_ For _ other men?

 

_ With _ other men?

 

Fucking  _ shit _ ! They could just call this whole fucking relationship off then!

 

Law punched the steering wheel horn without thinking, not even realizing how he referred to their set-up as a “relationship”, not a “bond”. The single loud honk startled some of the innocent people crossing the street. A red-haired guy with square goggles across his forehead flipped the bird at Law.

 

“Yeah, well, fuck you, too, you fucking pedestrian fucker!” He yelled loudly in his car and gripped his steering wheel to keep him from raising his middle finger right back at the bastard who just tried to eye him until he got to the other end of the street. Law’s car was heavily tinted so the stranger probably couldn’t see inside, but that didn’t keep him from glaring the fuck through the glass.

 

Argh.

 

Law shook his head. 

 

What was that? That was totally uncalled for. There was really no need or  _ sense _ to honk at the pedestrians who were rightly crossing the street because the green stick person told them they could. It was just so  _ frustrating _ ! Law pressed his forehead on the steering wheel and took a deep breath.

 

Calm down. Luffy wasn’t in a porn media anything and he wasn’t going to be unless Law let him. And Law wasn’t going to let him because he was a selfish motherfucker. Yeah, that’s right. Luffy could be a cam boy all he wanted once their bond was broken—Law coughed, fingers tightening on the hand wheel—but while they were still together, the idea of sharing was not even going to be brought to the table. 

 

Was that his right, though? Did he really have any right to tell Luffy that he shouldn’t be sleeping around with others? Just because he  _ could _ didn’t mean he  _ should _ , right? Them being boyfriends was just a front they told other people because it was the best excuse that didn’t require much explanation for their set-up. It made sense. But that didn’t mean Luffy was  _ actually _ his boyfriend, right? If Law allowed Luffy to sleep with other people, would his demon do it? He was an incubus after all.

 

Argh, but what if he got demonic diseases from Luffy having multiple partners? 

 

They really had to talk.

 

Wait, did he need to get a condom for later? His sexual knowledge didn’t really encompass having an incubus as a partner. To be honest, there weren’t many—Would Sanji know if rubber was necessary? He could call Sanji.  _ Should _ . 

 

God, he could call Luffy if his hot little ass had a phone. But Law wasn’t really in any position to just be buying someone extra gadgets. That wasn’t even healthy. Luffy would end up calling him all the time and keep sending him messages. With pictures. Or they could do video calls? And…? 

 

A loud honking sound from behind made Law fidget in his seat. He looked up. The light had turned green!

 

Law  _ had _ to stop thinking about sex while driving.

 

* * *

 

_ 9:30 AM. Law’s bedroom. _

 

According to Sabo, almost everything had advantages and disadvantages. That proved true with Law’s bed. The benefit was that it smelled like him. The drawback?  _ It smelled like him _ . 

 

Luffy already missed Law very much. Direly. Sorely. Painfully.  _ Deathly _ . He thought being on the man’s bed would help calm him down. Showering Law with affection had been Luffy’s way of coping with anxiety, stress, or confusion for the past few days. And it worked most of the time. Something about being so close to his human was soothing to Luffy. So whenever he was nervous, agitated, confused, or sad, all he had to do was be lovey-dovey with Law and all would be right with the world.

 

Right now, though, Law’s scent on his belongings had the opposite effect. More notably, it only made Luffy  _ harder _ being surrounded by everything that smelled like Law—the pillows, the sheets, the bed,  _ the room _ . It didn’t help that Luffy had decided to wear the shirt that his human had been wearing last night. It had been left discarded on the floor in Law’s haste about being late. 

 

This would’ve been a nice recipe to seduce Law—Luffy wearing only his shirt and his boxers underneath—except the human wasn’t there to see it. The only one being helplessly aroused enough to summon a storm here was  _ Luffy _ . 

 

He wasn’t sure how long ago his beautiful host had left, but it felt like it had been ages ago. Time moved so slowly and the television had not helped Luffy at all. Law said it could distract him and perhaps it could have worked if Luffy’s dick didn’t keep on reminding him that he was finally going to have sex with his human tonight.

 

Law  _ promised. _

 

But that was still  _ hours _ away.

 

Luffy squeezed the large pillow in his arms and rubbed his face against the material, breathing in deeply to inhale his human’s scent or what was left of it. This was so frustrating. All Luffy could process was how this pillow wasn’t half as close to being warm enough. It had no muscles, no legs, no hands, no lips. It obviously was a very bad replacement for Law. But then again, a pillow wasn’t meant to compete with the real thing to begin with.  _ Nothing _ could compete with his spectacular human.

 

“I’m going to die.” Luffy mumbled to himself as he rolled on his back, tossing the pillow to one side and staring at the ceiling. Maybe he should concentrate for a while. He heard that some humans trained their minds in mountain temples where they shaved their heads, wore beads, and jingled metal rings to help with strengthening their consciousness. Luffy closed his eyes lightly, trying to feel his surroundings and get a closer relationship with nature and whatnot.

 

His first realization?

 

The bed felt too empty. And cold. It would be much better with another body next to him. Or preferably on top of him. Beneath him was fine, too.

 

God, he really,  _ really _ missed Law.  _ So much _ . He couldn’t stress that enough.

 

Luffy could still remember how the man’s mouth felt like it was going to devour him whole with all that aggressive hunger. It felt like those hands left trails of fire where they touched his skin. And those _ fingers _ . Those fingers around his dick, oh  _ god _ . All of Law’s movements were fiery, powerful, but amazingly  _ precise _ . If Law was holding back this morning, then tonight he was going to be  _ sexually ravenous _ . And Luffy had no problem sating whatever hunger his gorgeous host had. He wasn’t really the kind to submit, but Law just kept on surprising him with the things he managed to pull off and none had been disappointing thus far. It made Luffy shudder just thinking about what his human was going to do to him tonight.

 

On his back? On all fours? On the floor? In the shower? In the living room? On the kitchen table? Against the wall? Out in the garden? Mouth, fingers, dick, ass, skin, tongue... Fucking  _ hell _ . 

 

No, fucking  _ heaven _ .

 

He could barely contain his excitement already.

 

“Ah!” Luffy’s hips lifted itself from the bed as he thrust forward into...  _ his own hand _ ?

 

“What the—!?” 

 

Luffy’s eyes flew open in surprise as he felt his fingers immediately leave his aching hardness like it had been caught doing something it shouldn’t have. He pushed himself up on his elbows frantically, not sure what to think about how his hand had traitorously travelled between his legs and started stroking. Good god. Was he about to  _ touch himself _ !? For relief!? 

 

His eyes grew wide in surprise upon seeing a small patch of wetness on his underwear.

 

And was he  _ leaking _ !? Oh dear fucking hell, it wasn’t even lunch yet! Law wasn’t going to be home for  _ hours _ ! He couldn’t let himself be this needy!

 

No! Aside from jacking off alone was damaging Luffy’s incubus pride, Law didn’t tell him he was allowed to come on his own. The promise was that they were going to have sex  _ tonight _ . And Luffy had to  _ wait _ .

 

But he felt so hard already. Maybe he could—

 

“Hell, no!” Luffy sat up immediately, refusing to give in to the nagging urge to jerk off with the help of  _ his own hand _ just so he could cope with his desperate-but-not-desperate-enough-to-masturbate longing. 

 

What did he usually do when he felt an urge? Find a victim. Any victim. 

 

Having sex with anyone who wasn’t Law? How  _ could he _ !? Luffy should punch himself for even thinking that!

 

Why, though? He wasn’t required to be monogamous. Sure, his sustenance had to be from Law because of the bond, but it didn’t automatically mean he couldn’t physically relieve himself with other people. The incubus pulled a random image of a human from his memory and imagined him having sex and—

 

“Argh. Fuck.  _ Eww _ .” Luffy cringed. What the  _ fuck _ ? He slapped his forehead with his right hand, realized it had been the traitorous one to touch his dick, and slapped his forehead again with his left hand. 

 

What was becoming of him? A completely monogamous incubus? He was turning into Zoro! The worse thing was, he didn’t care. He wanted his stunning, handsome, gorgeous, delicious Trafalgar Law. It was him or nothing. Luffy should be worried about the dangerous state of his mind but his dick kept twitching with every thought of his human.

 

The demon looked down and glared at his clothed, weeping erection.

 

_ Fucking read the atmosphere, dammit. _

 

Maybe he should get something to eat. Yeah, that ought to distract him.

 

Luffy jumped out of bed and tried running out of the room, which was really difficult when there was  _ something hard _ between his legs but he was trying to forget that so who cared, right? He hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen so he could see what he could stuff his mouth with to keep himself from imagining the taste of Law’s come.

  
The refrigerator was the first thing Luffy tried looking into, but everything looked so organized. He wasn’t sure if he could put everything back to how it looked like if he tried opening them. And Law was very particular with this shit.

 

Luffy turned around. Maybe the cupboards had something to offer.

 

And that’s when he saw what was on the kitchen table. It was a sealed microwavable container with what looked like a haphazardly tossed together  _ something _ inside.

 

The bottomline, though? Law had left the lunch he had prepared for himself.

 

Did that mean he had nothing to eat later? Oh,  _ hell no _ .

 

* * *

 

 

_ 10:20 AM. Corrida University Library. _

 

Law used to wonder what it was like to go crazy. How did it begin for people? What were the symptoms?

 

One way to go insane, apparently, was to make a handjob-virgin incubus come so early in the morning and think he could get away with it unscathed for the rest of the day. Big mistake. Now all Law’s brain could ever think about was Luffy despite being surrounded by a fuckton of books and responsibilities. 

 

To one side were stacks of reading material whose catalog information had to be updated and encoded via the computer that Law was in front of. Nico Robin, the beautiful librarian who caused a high number of male students to suddenly pick up reading as a hobby, walked around the library, tablet in one hand and a cart of books on the other. She was returning books to their proper places while cross-checking information on her spreadsheet. Law had offered to do this for her because he was absent the other day and late today. But the woman gracefully insisted she wanted to roam around the library today because she had been the one  encoding yesterday. And Law really didn’t have anything to respond to that because his mind had wandered off to Luffy’s half-naked form somewhere in the middle of the librarian’s explanation. 

 

Good god, Robin should’ve been pissed at him. But she was calm and understanding, not at all looking stressed or annoyed as he apologized. She had even commented on his tattoos and how they looked so exotic, original, and other-worldly. He was actually expecting her to leave a witty joke that involved someone bleeding to death and whatnot. They enjoyed the same kind of humor, which Law really appreciated because the university doctors he had to deal with were a weird kind of insane. Strangely, she didn’t say anything about how he had gotten so many in such a short amount of time like most people did.

 

And now Law had some  _ guts _ being hot and bothered in the middle of work.

 

The man took a deep breath.

 

Focus. He had to focus. 

 

_ Law _ …

 

It was amazing how he didn’t dislocate his jaw with how tightly he had clenched it as soon as he heard— _ imagined _ —his little demon deliciously calling out his name. But it was all in his imagination, right? He was  _ not _ hearing Luffy. Not at all.

 

_ Law, please _ …

 

“Fuck.” Law grunted, more pissed that Luffy wasn’t anywhere next to him than being able to hear his breathless voice in his head. 

 

Good god, that heated foreplay this morning was definitely a wrong decision. He miscalculated. Sure, he had managed to  _ appease _ Luffy to let him go, but that just woke up his  _ own _ beast at a very inconvenient time. Now, all he wanted to do was fuck the living daylights out of his incubus. He should’ve just _ stayed home _ .

 

Well, it wasn’t too late to go home now, right? 

 

No. Shut up, brain.  _ Shut up _ . 

 

Why not, though? Luffy would probably be so delighted and eager, they could fuck right at the doorstep. 

 

No. That defeated the purpose of clocking in at all. Law couldn’t leave his responsibilities for the second day in a week. 

 

Maybe Law should go to the bathroom and relieve himself or something? Would that make things easier? Not really. He’d probably get a disease from the cubicles or the tiles. Better not.

 

Law picked up a book and went back to his task.

 

* * *

 

_ 10:40 AM. Law’s bathroom. _

 

Bathroom tiles were colder than Luffy imagined. Maybe because it was wet? Or maybe because Luffy had body heat now? Or was it because he was horny and desperate enough to have his cheek against the bathroom wall while leaning forward so he could confusedly stroke his own weeping, needy cock under the shower?

 

“Mmmh… Aaah…!” 

 

Holy sweet fuck, how did it come to this?!

 

Luffy had decided to take his human’s forgotten lunch to university. And that meant he had to shower before leaving or Law would be pissed. According to his host, people shouldn’t leave the house without showering unless there was a very good reason to keep them from doing so. Like the house being on fire. Or hell freezing over. Luffy wasn’t sure he should classify himself as “people”, but whatever. He was not risking the ruin of their sexual evening because he decided not to shower or because Law was too weak thanks to skipping lunch. 

 

Everything had to go right today.  _ Everything _ . Luffy would  _ kill _ to make sure of it. He had been sexually starving for two days. Waiting another day was  _ not _ an option. He wanted to have sex with Law already.

 

Maybe it was that manner of thinking that had his hand travelling south between his legs and stroking initially “for good measure” a few minutes after he felt water on his skin. Things escalated too quickly. Luffy wasn’t sure what happened between  _ that _ and the moment he realized he was panting for release.

 

One hand was stroking his dick slowly like he hadn’t really decided if this was something he should to do. But he really couldn’t keep from touching himself anymore. His free hand was trying to hold onto the wet wall like it had the answer to his longing. Which was stupid. The only answer to his desire was his gorgeous human.

 

“P-please…” Luffy heard himself whimper amidst the cold spray of water hitting his back. 

 

Who was he even  _ talking to _ ? He was alone in the bathroom and there was only the sound of water and his own breathless words. But he could also hear Law’s voice calling his name in the same way he did during their steamy foreplay this morning. Sure, they had orgasmed, but Luffy was still sticking to the idea that climaxing from sex was always,  _ always _ better. Anything that happened before actual sex was  _ foreplay _ . So what happened this morning was the appetizer. The main course was still a few hours away.

 

The feeling of his own fingers around his erection was painful torture. It felt good in its own right, but it was also a bitter reminder that this was  _ his hand _ , not Law’s. Why? Because Law was  _ not here _ . The more Luffy told himself that, the more he yearned to be with his human, which subsequently made him want to keep on touching himself to recreate Law’s ministrations this morning.

 

“L-Law… I mi—iss you so m-m-maaahhh…”

 

Luffy’s hips thrust forward once into his hand and he wanted to curse. It was so embarrassing despite being alone. There was no proper reason for him to masturbate. He was an  _ incubus _ . He could just find—No, no, no, he couldn’t. He only wanted Law. 

 

“I… I want…”

 

And yet here he was, touching himself. Fucking hypocrite. His human had not told him he could do this to himself. They promised to do it tonight. They  _ promised _ . Luffy was a goddamn traitor but there was no turning back now.

 

The demon closed his eyes. He felt like he had to come once and for all and yet he didn’t want to do it with his hand. All this mental confusion had been keeping him from climaxing. So unproductive! How did humans do this to themselves without feeling guilty about it? Luffy should kill himself for this betrayal but he was just so aroused and couldn’t help it anymore.

 

Oh, but Law seemed to have enjoyed using his hand to make Luffy come earlier today. The man’s hardness pressing against Luffy’s ass told that story. And the fact that Luffy hadn’t resorted to tearing off his human’s clothes on the spot was more than enough proof of how that handjob was heavenly as fuck. Confusing, maybe, but excellent nonetheless.

 

And Luffy wanted more of sweet confusion.

 

He wanted it now.

 

Luffy’s hips jerked again as soon as he remembered the how Law’s fingers stroked him so pleasurably, he lost his strength to stand. That prompted him to adjust the tightness of how he currently held his member, imagining how it had been held in those tattooed hands this morning. And yet he couldn’t come close to the real thing.  _ Nothing _ could ever hope to come close to how Law was so glorifyingly sexy in Luffy’s eyes.

 

God, that man was so perfect whether in real life or in Luffy’s imagination. Everything about him was made to hopelessly trap Luffy so that he was absolutely  _ delighted _ being stuck with the gorgeous Trafalgar Law. He really would rather be the one suffering from mana deficiency than bear witness to some other demon being Law’s familiar. He’d rather endure this weakness than hear Law say another demon’s name the way he said Luffy’s.

 

Selfish. That’s what Luffy was. And he wasn’t ashamed of it. Anyone who would agree to share Law with anyone else was an idiot who didn’t deserve him. Luffy would do anything for Law.  _ Anything _ . 

 

_ Luffy. _

 

“A-ah…! L-Law...!”

 

The voice sounded so real. He wanted to grab onto it and never let go. If only he could. What did he have to do to make it stay?

 

_ Come for me. _

 

Those words were already so fiery the first time he had heard it—so hot it was still freshly burned into Luffy’s memory with enough significance for Luffy to just  _ obey _ . 

 

The demon cursed with eyes closed, his hand pumping faster and harder as he called for his beloved human like the name was his only anchor to sanity. The splashing of water failed to reach his ears, but every inch of his skin was hyper aware of how the cold spray on his back hit like glorified rain trying to fuel his orgasm further. Luffy’s hips kept bucking, feeling the water trickle down his body, yearning for Law’s hands to be all over him like there was no tomorrow. He wasn’t even coming too hard, but he was climaxing so good that it left him painfully missing Law even more. Masturbation was so,  _ so _ confusing.

 

In the aftermath of his orgasm, Luffy slid down to let himself slump on the floor tiles. Jerking off calmed him down, but also made him yearn stronger for his human. And it also left a pang of guilt. He felt like he’d broken the promise—it meant more to Luffy than he thought, apparently—and his insides were bubbling with some sort of longing that made him  _ hurt _ .

 

The droplets of water seemed to be shooting angrily at him for doing this without permission. So Luffy just sat there, accepting the torrential reprimand from the chastising shower as the sound of his breath echoed between the walls. He was getting anxious and he wanted to calm down. His instincts told him to run to Law, but he wasn’t here at all. 

 

Luffy hugged himself.

 

“I miss you.” 

 

Maybe he would feel better when he brought the man his lunch. 

 

But first, he had to finish showering. And before that, Luffy had to get up.

 

* * *

 

 

_ 10:40 AM. Corrida University Library. _

 

“Fucking fucker fuck!” Law cursed like a gatling gun under his breath. 

 

As he went back twenty records on the computer to see which part he had a mistyped something because the supposed serial numbers were not tallying properly, Law only wished so badly that he was home. He wanted to breathe into Luffy’s hair or feel the boy’s small body nudging against his.

 

This was ridiculous. Absolutely  _ ridiculous _ . Not once in his entire life was he unable to function properly because he was sexually frustrated. Maybe this was why Luffy was such an idiot. He was  _ always _ horny. Or readily horny. Was that a term?

 

Didn’t matter. What mattered more was that Law had accidentally closed the library encoding system in his barely aware state.

 

“What the ffff—!” Law bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from cursing loudly.

 

Why was he suffering so? This had never happened before. Was this what Luffy felt all the time? His demon had always been so demonstrative and vocal of his affections that Law didn’t even have to wonder if Luffy was longing for him at home. He obviously was. Luffy had been constantly thirsty for sex that Law would have to be offended if the incubus wasn’t jerking off to him at the moment.

 

“Oh, hell.” Law frantically looked around for something to drink and found none. Food and drinks weren’t allowed in the library. What was he thinking?

 

Luffy touching himself, that’s what.

 

The image of the demon’s naked image flashed in Law’s head. And, oh, the temptation. Law would know. He had seen his demon’s beautiful bareness on the first night they got into this mess after all.

 

Fuck, no. Not here. Not  _ now _ .

 

But the visuals were coming into his head on its own. 

 

Luffy was lying on his bed. One of his hands was pushing his shirt up so he could touch his own nipples as his other hand wandered down to unzip his pants. Nothing was happening yet, but the boy was already flushed and panting. In Law’s imagination at least.

 

_ Law… Law... _

 

Imagining his voice was easy, too.  _ Far _ too easy, to be honest. Law could hear him gasp his name as his fingers gripped his cock.

 

He’s dripping already. Just like this morning.

 

“Shit.” Law turned the swivel chair around aimlessly in the small space behind the counter he was working on, not realizing he was biting down on his lower lip. The twitching between his legs was worrying him and yet everything was disappearing around him as the demon in his mind started stroking. He moaned beautifully for Law like he always did, his fingers carefully rubbing himself up and down, smothering his length with his own essence from the tip.

 

“So much precum.” Law mumbled to himself, part of his mind drifting to how Luffy would taste like. Amazing, probably.

 

_ Law, please look at me. _

 

Holy fuck, not only had the visual of Luffy not left his head, it was also asking for attention. Law wondered if Luffy would be okay with being watched. 

 

Why was this so fucking  _ immersive _ ? Maybe an overdrive of hormones caused imagined thoughts to be as realistic as possible? If that were the case then Law had just hit a gold mine with Luffy judging by how he looked like on the bed. The demon was lying on his back, his hand pumping up and down his shaft as his hips trembled with desire. The index finger of his other hand was now absent-mindedly tracing around his nipple, but the way his eyes moved told Law that the boy’s attention was too lost in the feeling between his legs. His mouth was open, gasping for breath, and Law wanted to close his mouth over his.

 

“Law?” 

 

Even Robin’s voice couldn’t properly pull Law back to reality. All he managed was an incoherent sound as he looked up, eyes not even focusing properly at the tall beautiful woman in front of him. He couldn’t even be bothered to wonder how he had not noticed her approach. Mindlessly, Law moved his swivel chair towards the computer to somehow attempt to get back to work. Luffy’s voice was still beckoning him in his head.

 

“You don’t look well.” Robin said calmly. Law barely heard. 

 

_ Don’t you want me, Law? _

 

Luffy’s voice was way louder than anything around him.

 

“You’re short on breath.”

 

Law blinked himself to attention and realized the unusual heaving of his chest. He was also sweating and his eyes were blurry, but that was nothing compared to the loud beating of his heart.

 

“Maybe you need water?”

 

Water would do shit to appease his raging hormones. All he wanted to drink was Luffy’s moans and sighs. But maybe water in his throat could distract him enough to survive a few more minutes. Rehydration was as good way to get the mind back on track. Yeah. He should dash to the nearest drinking fountain and  _ drown himself _ if he had to. It would only take a while.

 

“Robin… I…”

 

But then his imagined Luffy was now turning its head and looked with dark, needy eyes at Law.

 

_ Law, I need you. _

 

Law swallowed hard. Fuck. 

 

_ I can’t wait ‘til you’re inside me. _

 

“Robin, I’m sorry. I…” 

 

_ Come here.  _

 

“I think I need to go home.”

 

_ To me. _

* * *

 

_ 11:00 AM. Law’s bedroom. _

 

Being horny was just one of the things an incubi had to deal with every day. It was easy for Luffy to get aroused when he needed to feed and he found it was much easier when he was next to Law. For the first time in his life, however, Luffy was questioning the level of his sexual thirst as his climax ascended to the high heavens.

 

“Law…! L-Law…! Nnggh…!”

 

Luffy’s fully naked form arched forward onto the bed as he came on himself for the third time today. He was still slightly wet from the shower and Law was probably going to kill him for not even bothering to dry his hair before nestling in the sheets, but it was only out of dire urgency. His erection would  _ not _ go down and he was very painfully needy.

 

Settling back down on the bed, Luffy’s fingers loosened as his other hand reached for something to wipe himself with. That something turned out to be the shirt he had been wearing prior to showering. Tossing the garment on the floor, Luffy pulled the sheets up and curled on his side.

 

Law shouldn’t have touched him like that. This whole jerking off thing shouldn’t have been introduced to him. He felt like a traitorous little shit. Coming felt good, but he had to deal with feeling like trash afterwards. He wasn’t sure if it was normal to feel this way. So guilty.

 

“Law...” Luffy brought a fistful of the blanket up to his face so he could smell the mix of his own scent with his human’s. 

 

And that was  _ it _ . Luffy started sobbing. It  _ hurt _ . It hurt all over not being able to touch Law to cope. It had only been hours since he left, but Luffy had been deprived of sex for longer and it was causing him to be in a weird kind of pain he’d never been in before. 

 

“I miss you so much...”

 

He wanted Law already. Being next to his human would make this all better. 

 

But enough of him and his needs. For all he knew, his fragile host could be starving and forced to eat something that wasn’t in his diet. And here Luffy was moping about how his dick wasn’t getting the attention it wanted.

 

Luffy rolled to his other side and took a deep breath to will himself to get up. He had to bring food to his human as soon as possible.

 

 

* * *

 

_ 11:30 AM. Dressrosa City street. _

 

Law was not aware how he had known  _ that _ many driving shortcuts and how he was capable of driving along the fine line between going really fast and breaking traffic rules. Why the fuck didn’t he use those routes earlier?

 

He also never realized how he much disdain his own heart could hold against traffic lights if they weren’t green for him. This planet had too many pedestrians. They should have their own fucking walkway. Overpass bridges should replace all pedestrian lanes so that frail as fuck humans could stay away from the god damn cars. Oh and some people should never be given the license to drive because did you just overtake me, you piece of dumb shit? Do you want me to slap you with my dick you—

 

“Hooookay...” Law took a deep breath, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel as he did his darnest to focus on the road and the possible accidents and criminal charges he could face if he let the head of his cock do the thinking.

 

Calm down, Law. Calm down. There was no need to rush. Luffy was home and he wasn’t going anywhere.

 

The traffic light turned red.

 

“ _ Motherfucker! _ ” Law roared and punched the car horn.

* * *

_ 12:00 NN. Law’s living room. _

 

Every incubi—dead and alive, in this realm or somewhere else—should be ashamed of Luffy. He was a disgrace. He was the smudge of his entire demonkind.

 

So he’d managed to shower and get ready to bring his human some midday sustenance to keep him alive and kicking until tonight. Good. That was the plan. He even managed to pick out clothes for himself although he needed more help with how to work on the belt.  _ That _ ruined the plan. His fingers working too close to his crotch was a bad idea when he was alone and horny.

 

How was he now sitting on the sofa chair, shirt discarded on the floor, pants down to his thighs and hand on his dick again? Clearly, this was  _ not  _ the plan.

 

But he felt desperate—too desperate—to be touching himself twice, thrice, if he counted the attempted first time on the bed. This was the fourth time today. He’d heard humans loved doing this to themselves and he only chalked that up to their varying inability to seduce their chosen partners. For incubi, though, Luffy thought masturbation to be boring and pointless. 

 

And he was eating all of those words up now.

 

His thumb swiped at the tip of the head, spreading precum on the skin as his hand moved slowly down his shaft. He imagined that to be Law’s tongue, licking him off as he hummed contentedly. Would Law like that? He really hoped so. In his imagination, though, Law  _ loved _ how he tasted like and could not get enough of him at all. Oh,  _ if only _ .

 

Another sigh left Luffy as his legs slightly outstretched. He was leaning back on the chair and looking up at the ceiling. His eyes had lost its ability to see, it seemed, because all he could visualize was Law.

 

Luffy could see his human on top of him on the chair, knees on either side of his thighs as his gorgeous tattooed body loomed and cast a shadow over him. He shuddered as he imagined his own hand to be Law’s, stroking tightly, gently, and then slowly building up speed and force. His hips trembled, trying not to thrust up again like he had done multiple times earlier today.

 

“Nnnhhh… Please... please...” 

 

His free hand went up to his hair. Law loved touching him there, letting his fingers run against the strands and then gripping hard—Luffy pulled. It wasn’t enough.—before sliding back down his face, his neck, his chest, his abs, and then back up. A pad of his thumb ran against the hardened nipples on his chest. That had him imagining Law licking the sensitive bud like he did the first time Luffy fed. His human’s mouth would trail back up to place love bites across his neck. Luffy whined. His inability to recreate how Law sucked against his skin made him painfully aware of how he was alone. Law would whisper in his ear, his breath like a warm touch of magic against Luffy’s skin so that every word seeped into his consciousness like an unbreakable command.

 

In his mind, Law loved him so much. He whispered sweet nothings and told him how beautiful Luffy was, how Law needed him, how Law would have no one else but him, and how Law would never let him go. In every passionate moment, Luffy would say “I love you” and his human would always say “I love you, too”. It was so perfect in his head that it was starting to sting his heart and his eyes.

 

“L-Law…” He panted helplessly, feeling a strain on his lower back as he tried not to arch forward, “I... I…”

 

“Luffy.”

 

Oh, that voice. His human sounded like he was right in the same room as he was. It was so clear and real that it  _ hurt  _ again. 

 

“Law…” Luffy moaned helplessly, biting his lower lip to keep himself from sobbing like this morning again, “P-please…  _ Please _ … I need you...”

 

“Fuck. Luffy.”

 

Okay, that was  _ too real _ .

 

The sound of something hitting the floor followed by hurried stomping footsteps made Luffy reorient himself with his surroundings and his whole persona just shook like a volcano threatening to erupt as soon as he laid his eyes on his very own Trafalgar Law approaching him. His bag and his coat had fallen on the floor, shoes discarded away from each other.

 

What?! When did he arrive!? When did he come in!? Did he see the lecherous thing Luffy was doing?! 

 

He probably did. Law’s eyes were heavy, dark, and dominant and Luffy felt the dire need to pull himself together to try to explain. The small demon pushed himself back to sit up, haphazardly pulling up his underwear and pants, which made him feel like a worthless piece of shit.

 

Two tattooed hands landed hard on either arm rest. The demon fidgeted, panicking, unable to tell his human not to be mad at him because Law  _ should _ be mad at him. 

 

Tears started welling in Luffy’s eyes without warning upon feeling like he was a disloyal little shit who couldn’t make good on his promise to  _ wait _ .

 

“L-La—”

 

But the lips that came crashing down on Luffy were hungry, not angry. And they were more ravenous than they were this morning. Law’s kiss was wet, frantic, and excited. His tongue immediately pushed into Luffy’s mouth without a second thought, swiping around like he hadn’t tasted the boy in ages. Was he angry? Disappointed? Betrayed? Was this his way of asserting dominance?

 

Luffy should be worried about what Law was thinking after seeing him with his pants down and touching himself, but he couldn’t even hope to breathe properly as Law leaned over him. One of the man’s knees was wedged between Luffy’s legs, rubbing against his balls just right to make him whimper. His long fingers immediately found Luffy’s hair to grip it tightly and good god, yes, that was much, much better than how Luffy was doing it to himself earlier.

 

The chair was small and Luffy felt like it wasn’t enough space for the both of them, but he liked Law being this close. This was fine. As long as Law was next to him, even the torturous flames of hell was fine.

 

“Luffy…” Law pulled away for a second but his sentence was lost when he dived down again for another kiss like he wouldn’t be able to find air if he didn’t. Luffy’s fingers were clutching onto the sides of Law’s shirt, thinking he might disappear from his grasp. He didn’t want Law to go anywhere. If this was his imagination still, it was perfect and it Luffy didn’t want it to dissolve.

 

“Luffy…” Law said again while placing open-mouthed kisses against his demon’s jaw. The man pulled away and his fingers came up to wipe the tears on Luffy’s face, “Why are you crying?”

 

“Y-y-yo-you…” Luffy’s breath hitched, voice pitching up slightly as he swallowed a sob. He reached so he could pull Law closer by the neck, “Y… You came home…?”

 

“That’s why you’re crying…?” One of Law’s hands stopped traveling all over Luffy’s torso while the fingers in his hair loosened and were now softly caressing his scalp. “Is it because of what I did this morning still…?”

 

“N-no! No…!!” Luffy shook his head vigorously. The drops flew from his eyes in his sudden movement. 

 

“Is it…” Luffy was hiccuping the words. It was difficult to speak when Law was staring heavily at him like that. “Law, is it really you?”

 

“Who else were you expecting?”

 

“N-no one!” Luffy exclaimed, shaking his head harder. He just wanted to make sure this wasn’t his imagination or a trick of the mind. Was Law thinking he was unfaithful? “I would never—!” The demon was unable to finish as Law sighed and pressed his lips against Luffy’s temple before moving up to breathe into his hair. 

 

“B-but why are you home?” Luffy asked. The hiccuping had to stop. It was embarrassing. Law might get turned off. “Didn’t you say—”

 

“I wanted to.  _ Had _ to.” Law hadn’t moved from where he was inhaling the scent of Luffy’s hair as his fingers caressed his scalp, running gently through the strands. “You were all I could think about.” His other hand drifted downwards, fingers tapping slightly against the heated skin and barely touching the tips of Luffy’s hardened nipples. “I couldn’t get you out of my head.”

 

The beating of Luffy’s borrowed heart was insane. How was a heart able to make such a deafening sound that could drive thunder to shame?

 

“Law…!” Luffy’s ears were ringing when he pulled his human closer, “Law, I missed you so mu—aaammmhhh!”

 

The fingers pressed on the sensitive bud on his chest as Luffy leaned up into the kiss that Law had silenced him with. This was real. Law was here. He came home for Luffy. The demon was having trouble digesting the reality of that.

 

The man pulled away slightly, breath against Luffy’s lips still.

 

“I missed you, too.” 

 

_ Too _ .

 

Luffy was going to die. His heart was going to burst out of happy confusion and he was going to  _ disintegrate _ but Law’s kiss put him back together again in an instant. His scattered brain was melting as Law devoured his mouth like he was all that mattered right now. And that, in itself, was enough reason for Luffy to do cartwheels in his head while screaming like a happy little son of a gun.

 

The fingers in Luffy’s hair tightened again and that felt all sorts of  _ good _ that he couldn’t explain to Law anymore except by sobbing. Oh god, he was crying again. Really crying. But he was happier than he was this morning. It didn’t even cross his mind how that was possible. Yet here he was, up and ready to dethrone the happiest anything on the planet, as his human kept on kissing him like he was never going to get enough. 

 

Law’s palm slid up and down his torso and Luffy didn’t hesitate to arch into his touch or press his body closer. Luffy was lost for words, but Law had to know this felt good, that Luffy wanted more. Tattooed fingers travelled further downwards, snaking in between their bodies like it was on a mission to set a trail of embers on Luffy’s skin. 

 

“Can I…” The man whispered against his jaw. Law’s lips were so wet. “Can I touch you…?”

 

“Y-yes, yes…!” Luffy nodded quickly because “yes” didn’t seem like a good enough word to stress how he wanted this so much already. Law didn’t even have to ask. He could just do whatever. Luffy wasn’t going to complain.

 

“Please, Law,  _ please _ .” Luffy pushed his own clothes down, “I want yo—mmmnnnnhhhaaaaahhh…!”

 

Finishing sentences was overrated compared to the man’s hot fingers wrapping around Luffy’s leaking, aching hardness. The precome dripped as if to scream at Law that he needed more of this.

 

“You’re so fucking  _ hard. _ ”

 

Law almost couldn’t believe it.

 

Luffy nodded quickly, lips sealed, eyes screwed shut, mind focusing on the wonderful feeling of Law’s hand rubbing up and down his needy shaft. He didn’t know if he wanted to stretch his legs, pull them up, or wrap them around Law so he just writhed on the chair, unsure of what proper reaction he should give his human to encourage him to do more. 

 

“Is this what you’ve been doing while I was gone?”

 

All he could do was nod again and there was a small but sudden pang of worry in his throat that Law would be annoyed. Oh, there was the guilt rearing its ugly head, but Luffy could deal with it now that Law was here next to him.

 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Law’s hand pumped harder like it was the only way to stress his word. That had Luffy’s body jolting in shock, eyes snapping open before screwing shut again. Was his human angry?

 

“Damn, Luffy, that is so hot.”

 

Apparently, no, not angry.

 

Law’s mouth was over Luffy’s own again and there was nothing else to be done but give in, comply, submit, receive, and  _ drown _ . How was he to do anything productive with the man’s tongue against his and those fingers stroking him. Luffy’s hips kept on pushing up into Law’s fingers, which were now wet with his dripping precum as the sounds of Luffy’s movement against the chair danced perfectly with how both of them moaned into each other’s mouths. In an instant, Law’s mouth moved from Luffy’s lips to his neck where he sucked yet another new mark probably on top of another or not, bah, why would it—Ah, wait, fuck, he was coming! 

 

Luffy tried throwing his head back further, but all he did was sink into the chair and push it back a bit as he moaned loudly. He could feel his eyelids fly open but all he could see was a night sky with fireworks and flashes of light from all directions like an amazing display of emotion amidst a hard downpour of rain. His knees felt weak and his elbows felt tight as his fingers desperately clung onto Law. He wasn’t aware how his hips kept thrusting upward, the balls of his feet digging into the floor, his entire body trying to ride this sensation in any way he can.

 

“Law… Law… Law…” Luffy could hear himself say, voice waning as the mouth on his skin left with a smacking sound. The feeling of Law’s soft, warm tongue swiping against the newest love bite made him shiver and want more of such bruises on his skin. 

 

Just when Luffy was trying to collect the remnants of his sanity, Law brought his hand up and,  without a second thought, licked Luffy’s come off his fingers. 

 

Shit, shit,  _ shit _ ! 

 

Luffy’s eyes widened so much, he might have lost the capability to blink. If that display didn’t make Luffy instantly rock hard again then nothing else in the world would.

 

“L-Law…!” 

 

His name was the only thing Luffy could say at the moment. And it would probably be the only thing he could cling onto over the next few seconds because Law was now carefully sliding down so he was kneeling on the floor. His large hands pulled down Luffy’s shorts along with his underwear and effortlessly threw it to one side, not caring where it landed. Luffy’s lungs had probably ceased working, too. Maybe because all of the body’s effort should be allocated into processing the image of Law between his legs that his human’s inked hands were pushing apart by the thighs.

 

“Law…!”

 

Still just one name. And it held more meaning and emotion than any word in Luffy’s mediocre vocabulary.

 

“La—ah—hhhww…!” Luffy’s fingers dug into the armrests as Law ran his tongue along his hardened member. Oh, what was he doing? No, wait, Luffy knew what he was doing. It’s just that his brain was busy telling him how he was now naked on the chair. That made him feel bare and vulnerable, like a gift being presented to Law. 

 

Fuck, he was right at his limit of waiting. If they got interrupted right now, Luffy was just going to wither and die, if not evolve to be the harbinger of doom to the world.

 

“Hnh. Well.” Law mumbled against Luffy’s aching hardness and that was one kind of torture Luffy didn’t mind receiving. “You taste better than I thought.”

 

Tasted better than he thought? That meant Law had been wondering what he tasted like? Law had been  _ thinking _ about him that way? He meant it?

 

“B-better th—hhaahh!”

 

Talking was a very complicated activity as soon as Law started kissing up and down Luffy’s cock. His human hummed against his skin, making Luffy drip like he was coming bit by bit, orgasming in broken pieces that were going to be put together for one big explosion to blow up his mind once and for all. Law moved up, his lips puckering around the head of Luffy’s aching manhood so he could mouth at the smooth, pink skin. 

 

“Oh… Ohh… Y-y-you’re not…” Luffy panted, toes curling and uncurling as he sternly told himself not to lock his legs around Law’s head to keep him in place, “You… N-not… Aaahhhnn… Nnnggry at me...?”

 

“Angry?” Law’s eyes slowly moved up but Luffy’s eyes were closed. The man continued to lap on the beads of liquid seeping out the slit of Luffy’s cock, “Why?”

 

“T-t-touching myself…” The demon was shuddering, “Without... permission…”

 

Law made a curious noise while licking the underside of Luffy’s throbbing cock and massaging his balls to elicit a sound that was a beautiful cross between a sigh and a moan. 

 

“Why would you need permission?”

 

Luffy drew a deep inhale before stopping his breath. That worried Law for a while so he sat up on his haunches and touched Luffy’s tense fingers with his own.

 

“Luffy…?”

 

Was he hurting Luffy?

 

The demon swallowed hard and took consecutive deep breaths before his eyelids fluttered open. Law made sure to look Luffy in the eye as a gesture of seriousness and maybe sincerity.

 

“Why would you need permission to touch yourself?”

 

Luffy was still breathing hard when he opened his mouth to respond with a question of his own.

 

“B-but d-don’t I belong to you…?”

 

That… was unexpected. And it caused a loud explosion at the back of Law’s head. His ears started ringing as his eyes drank Luffy’s naked form on the chair, leaning back helplessly and almost slouching. His neck was teeming with hickeys down to his collarbone and Law wondered where else on the boy’s pink skin should he leave his mark. Luffy’s half-lidded eyes were looking at him as if waiting for his answer.

  
And Law had one. He fucking had one.

 

“You do.” 

 

Law took Luffy by the wrist and pulled him forward. The boy just leaned over so he stumbled into Law’s arms and onto his lap. The demon’s small hands lightly grabbed Law by the shoulders to steady himself only to fidget as soon as Law’s tongue started licking Luffy’s chest. 

 

“You  _ do _ belong to me.” 

 

A wave of possessiveness started to wash over Law’s mind as the small body on his lap writhed and trembled, but didn’t fight back. The incubus kept on panting, saying things that Law could only translate as him asking for more. Law kissed up Luffy’s neck and jaw while trying to endure the hardness in his own pants.

 

“You’re mine, Luffy.” The man contemplated on kissing his demon on the lips because wasn’t it impolite to go from mouth to dick to mouth again? But the way Luffy was staring with such a needy, debauched expression tore at that self-restraint. The boy wanted to be consumed and Law could not hold himself back from cupping the his pink cheeks and kissing him fervently. Luffy moaned lovingly as he shifted so that he was straddling his human.

 

Law was  _ seriously _ not sharing Luffy with  _ anyone _ .

 

“ _ Mine _ .” Law growled possessively.

 

“Yours.” Luffy wrapped his arms around Law’s neck and tilted his head to properly kiss his human, “ _ All yours _ .”

 

They leaned forward at the same time in a beautiful sync of motion and angles, arms encircling each other so they could delve in this bubbling passion together. Luffy’s hands came up to ruffle Law’s hair into a beautiful mess of his own that had his human moaning into his mouth. Law’s hands slid over and around Luffy’s torso as they kissed like breathing mattered less. It was impossible for Luffy not to rock his hips on Law’s lap with the man’s erection responding accordingly.

 

“Law…” Luffy mumbled out of the corner of his lips as one of his hands snaked between their bodies so he could undo the button on Law’s pants, “You’re hard.”

 

“I am.” Law whispered, waiting for Luffy to unzip his fly so he could take that small hand and put in his pants himself. Both of them groaned in desire as soon as Luffy’s palm came in contact with the dripping hardness between Law’s legs. The man’s hips jerked upward into Luffy’s touch.

 

“Fuck,” Luffy moved his head so their foreheads were touching as he kept on palming Law’s needy erection, “I’ve been thinking of this all morning.”

 

“Y-yeah...?” Law was smiling naughtily despite having his eyes just as half-lidded as Luffy’s, “Did you come...?”

 

“Twice.” Luffy licked his human’s lips, “Almost thrice.” 

 

Law’s tongue slid out to meet and dance with Luffy’s and they moaned. Law pressed forward a little, not bothering to clamp their mouths over each other as their tongues kissed fervently.

 

“You were all I had in my head.” Luffy sighed, feeling lighter at how he could tell his human about this without any hint of guilt. “I kept on calling out your name.”

 

Law sucked at his lower lip as Luffy kept on stroking Law’s erection just enough to tease and not enough to make him come. The man moaned again.

 

“It wasn’t enough.” Luffy’s eyes moved to meet Law’s, “It wasn’t enough at all. I wanted you so badly.” Luffy kissed him long and hard. “I  _ ached _ for you so much.”

 

“My poor little Luffy.” It was Law’s turn to kiss him, but he pulled away shortly before Luffy could revel in the fact that Law had used the word “my” in that sentence. 

  
“Come on,” Law said as he shifted to carry Luffy in his arms. “We’re going upstairs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading chapter 15 right after this because I wrote this as one big chapter that I had to split or this would’ve been almost 20,000 words. Argh. Run along now and read what happens next.


	15. Midday

 

“Upstairs?” Luffy tilted his head slightly and soon realized how he was now able to finally nuzzle against Law’s chest after long hours of waiting.

 

“That’s where the bed is.” Law started up the steps.

 

“You don’t like it on the floor?” Luffy looked up and only Law’s eyes looked down on him before stopping half-way up the stairs so he could press their lips together. Luffy forgot how to breathe for a second until Law pulled away and said, “I’d like our first time to be on the bed.”

 

Oh.  _ That _ .

 

Luffy hid his face in Law’s shoulder and nodded as he felt his human resume walking up the steps.

 

There he was again with thoughts about their “first time”. Law seemed like a person who didn’t give a shit about sappy things. He did. He was just so  _ awkward _ about it. There were times when he had no qualms expressing the things that he cared about, but that wasn’t too often. At least not in the two or three days Luffy had spent with him thus far.

 

And Luffy wanted to cherish whatever thoughts Law had about their “first time” together. Being carried in Law’s arms was a more delightful ride than  _ anything _ . He felt so loved and protected. It made Luffy wonder if Law cared about him in a special way.  

 

Luffy wasn’t sure if Law was like this to any of his previous partners. Did he carry them around, too? Did he bother to bring them all to the bed when they first had sex? Luffy felt a bit jealous and selfish. He wanted to hunt down all of Law’s previous partners and feed them to the monsters of Punk Hazard. Ah, but there was no time to be angry. This was a very special moment for Luffy. He’d never cared about a partner like this before. He’d never considered he would ever. And he was not going to let pointless jealousy ruin this.

 

Law opened the door to his room and saw clothes on the floor, but what got his attention was how his bed looked like it had been used after he left this morning. There was a balled up shirt on the floor that looked like it was used to  _ wipe something _ . Law snickered as he put Luffy down on the mattress—didn’t just toss him on it—and leaned in to kiss him again.

 

“So you used the bed?” Law asked, smiling, “Did you do it here?”

 

A bright red hue crept up and covered Luffy’s face. He was really embarrassed about touching himself, wasn’t he? 

 

_ Adorable little thing. I’m going to fuck you so good. _

 

“Shut up.” His arms shot up and pulled Law down.

 

“Wait.” Law put a hand on Luffy’s chest and pushed him back. Luffy growled in complaint, but immediately stopped with wide eyes as soon as Law started to unbutton his shirt with one hand. 

 

Law wasn’t really doing anything amazing, but every time Luffy looked at him, he felt like the most breathtaking man on the planet. The incubus was always  _ mesmerized _ by him. Luffy took a deep breath and sat up, hands immediately reaching for the waistband of Law’s pants that had started to slide down to his hips. In one tug, Luffy had the man’s jeans down to his thighs, but couldn’t even be bothered to take it off properly before he pulled down on Law’s boxers.

 

Law inhaled sharply as soon as his erection sprung free and Luffy’s eyes immediately glassed over with lust at the man’s dripping hardness in front of his face. Allowing himself only a small, but audible gulp, the demon immediately proceeded to lick the precum off Law’s needy dick.

 

“H-hey…!” Law sounded like he was complaining but his hips slowly moved forward, “L-Luffy…”

 

Luffy made a small sound as if to tell Law that he wasn’t going to wait anymore. Understandably so. Law didn’t want to wait too long either, but he wanted to get his clothes off at least. The way Luffy’s mouth was cleaning him off and making him leak more at the same time was confusing. 

 

Law had a very nice view of his incubus mouthing at his erection eagerly, eyes closed and breathing heavily. From this angle, Luffy’s back looked like a beautiful creamy slope down towards his nice little ass. Law was going to fucking  _ explore _ that later.

 

“Luffy...” Law shook off his shirt and threw it on the floor before one of his hands landed on Luffy’s head, holding back so much from just pushing the boy towards his crotch, “Luffy, let me undress...”

 

Suddenly, Law found himself bouncing with his back on the bed with Luffy at his feet and pulling his jeans off his legs. He should be pissed at the treatment that his leather pair had received, but he was too busy sitting up while Luffy hastily took his socks off and threw those, too.

 

“We good now?” Luffy tilted his head at Law.

 

“Get your ass over here ri—”

 

There was a blur of black and flesh before Luffy was in front of Law, lips smacking against his, and kissing him with enough force to send the man back down on the bed. 

 

Tattooed arms encircled the small body on top, both of them revelling in the intensely sensual feeling of skin against skin. Luffy kept on moving against his human, making damn sure that every grind of his hips had their erections rubbing against each other. Law moaned into Luffy’s mouth and the boy hummed into the kiss. The man’s tongue was aggressive as always, swiping viciously in Luffy’s mouth and pressing against his tongue. And Luffy found that he absolutely loved that now because Law was so  _ dominant _ whenever he did that. Luffy felt like he was so delicious and that Law would never ever want to taste anyone other than him.

 

When Luffy pulled away, they were both short on breath, but still not close to sated. The incubus started placing kisses down Law’s throat and realized that the medical patch was still there. Luffy’s fingers carefully pulled it off and when Law moaned at  _ that _ , Luffy realized exactly how sensitive his human currently was. Throwing away the medical patch, Luffy moved and sucked another mark on Law’s skin, just at the opposite of the one he had previously made.

 

Law moaned loudly—louder than he had ever done in the past two days—which encouraged Luffy to suck harder. One tattooed hand was moving up and down Luffy’s back while another hand grabbed the boy’s ass so he could grind harder against him.

 

“Shit.” Luffy mumbled against Law’s skin as he pulled away, not even bothering to check the love bite he’d left in favor of peppering Law’s chest with kisses. The man gasped his demon’s name as the boy’s hot breath on his skin ignited the blood in his veins. Luffy seemed to like that as he hummed, lips trailing towards Law’s left nipple that had the man panting in excitement. 

 

“Yeah. Fuck.” Law arched forward when Luffy’s tongue started swirling around the hardened sensitive bud, “Luffy, I like that.” Law’s fingers ran through Luffy’s hair because it was the only way aside from words that he could let the demon know he was doing a good job, “Keep doing that.”

 

Luffy released a prolonged moan, licking messily over Law’s nipple that had him tightly gripping the boy’s hair. The demon’s sinful mouth then moved to Law’s right nipple, but his small hand came up and started running the pad of his thumb on the wet bud that he had left. Law moaned loudly again, the fingers tightening in Luffy’s hair enough to make the boy whimper for more.

 

Good lord, had Luffy always been this good? Or was it only because Law was finally letting him do his thing without being hindered with worries and inhibitions? Because he only had his mouth and his fingers working, but Law felt like his body was being assaulted from different directions already. And he meant that in a damn good way.

 

“Fuck… I want to come like this.” Law said breathlessly with his eyes closed, letting his body accept whatever pleasure his demon was giving him, “Luffy, make me come like this...”

 

Luffy wanted to scream in glee. Law hadn’t given him proper instructions like that since day one and that just sent his dick twitching and weeping in arousal. It wasn’t even a request. It was a _ command _ . One that he didn’t even wonder if possible, but, yeah, Luffy could do that. Of course, he could. 

 

The incubus shifted and pressed his hips against Law’s before grinding in the same rhythm and pace as the movement of his tongue on Law’s chest. Law groaned, head moving to the side, eyes still closed and Luffy took that as him enjoying this. The demon moved back to the other nipple, and his other hand played with the one he had left.

 

“Shit. This is so fucking good.” Law mumbled dreamily and Luffy thought if he had time to say that long sentence then it was time for him to come.

 

Moaning loudly and breathily, Luffy sucked hard on the nipple in his mouth and twisted the other with enough force to make Law jolt beneath him, eyes snapping wide open in surprise. As the man’s body arched up, Luffy pressed his hips down hard and fast, grinding perfectly so that their erections brushed once, twice, thrice—”Hgk! Fuck...Gghh…!”—Law was coming all over his stomach, gritting his teeth, and cursing with just his breath.

 

Luffy sat up slowly, letting his human pant on the bed. The demon then moved back a bit so he could bend down and lick Law’s come off his abs.

 

“Oh, god...” Law gasped. He was still hard. His skin was still so sensitive from how his incubus had made him come. “Luffy, you sexy little thing...”

 

“ _ Your _ sexy little thing.” Luffy smiled, licking off the last of Law’s essence on his skin before crawling back up, his chest brushing against every inch of Law’s skin that he could cover, “Don’t tell me we’re done?”

 

Law smirked and rolled them over so he was on top. 

 

“Far from it.”

 

Luffy smiled devilishly. He liked that answer. 

 

After forty-eight cruel hours of being sex-deprived while bonded with the most beautiful man that Luffy had ever laid eyes on, this was  _ finally _ happening.

 

Trafalgar Law—his very own stunning Trafalgar Law—was now on top of him, deep dark eyes glazed with lust and glistening lips swollen from all the harsh, hungry kissing they’ve been doing. He had one hickey on either side of his neck that made Luffy feel proud. Those were  _ his _ marks. And it seemed Law was also staring at the ones he had put on Luffy as sensual eyes raked over his body greedily. Luffy wanted so bad to look into his host’s mind if only that wouldn’t ruin the element of surprise.

 

Law leaned down to kiss him and Luffy eager lifted his arms to wrap around his neck and pull him down. The incubus could barely contain his excitement. He’d never had sex in daylight before and maybe it wasn’t going to be  _ that _ different, but it was still a new experience. Luffy felt so  _ adventurous _ .

 

One tattooed hand slid down on Luffy’s torso, fingers drumming along the way, tracing the cuts made by his muscles that almost melted under each touch. Luffy moaned as Law’s lips led the movement of his mouth in a smooth rhythm, their tongues dancing inside, breaths igniting sparks across their skin. Law’s hand travelled further downward and Luffy anticipated fingers to wrap around his erection, but, no. Law reached even further, hand moving back down, fingers pressing on his skin and then… Huh?

 

“A-ah…!” Luffy jerked, breaking the kiss as he felt two fingers breaching his entrance without warning. Law seemed to like the reaction he elicited judging by how he was smiling against the corner of Luffy’s mouth.

 

“L-Law, I don’t—”

 

—Don’t need to be prepped. Had never been prepped by a hand in his entire life. Incubi didn’t need it. To Luffy, those were as pointless as handjobs. And sure, he was pretty wrong about the latter, but getting his ass fucked by a hand was not happening. Incubi were already the most convenient creatures to have sex with and  _ fingering _ wasn’t too awesome in Luffy’s book.

 

Law didn’t seem like he wanted to hear any of that explanation, though, because his fingers just  _ pushed in _ .

 

“L-Law…!”

 

Luffy moved his head to one side, one of his hands grabbing onto Law’s forearm to stop his hand’s movement. The human made a sound that Luffy couldn’t understand. He flickered his eyes upward to look at his host who was leaning on his arm and staring back down like a calm ocean waiting to turn into a tidal wave.

 

“I said I wanted to explore you.” The deep darkness in Law’s eyes told Luffy he was  _ not _ willing to compromise on this one as the fingers inside slowly curled despite not being fully in yet, “And that’s what we’re going to do.”

 

“B-but…” Luffy was unable to finish as his human started sucking on his lower lip. That was a good enough distraction for Law to let his fingers push so painstakingly slow into the tight entrance. 

 

So much for “not happening”.

 

Small tremors travelled through Luffy’s veins and he could feel an earthquake happening just right under his ass. But it was a good kind of earthquake and it made Luffy whimper sweetly. Law licked his lips before leaning back, staring with eyes dark, hungry, and immensely turned on. And that gaze was all it took to pin Luffy on the bed and make him feel trapped within the reach of Law’s presence.

 

The demon took a deep breath as the fingers slid back out slowly. He whined once more, not sure if he was glad that the invading digits were getting out or begging for it to ram itself back in. The dripping of his own cock was an obvious indicator of how his body was enjoying the invasion.

 

He was in the middle of that thought when Law decided to push deeper, fingers curling just right to have Luffy’s breath coming in gasps. The friction from his entrance and the pressure against his muscles was a weird, welcome feeling that had his brain tearing itself apart from how this was so unnecessarily  _ exquisite _ . Law started moving in and out in a steady, almost experimental pace, giving Luffy a quiet taste of what was to come. And that just made the demon’s anticipation skyrocket, desire crawling under his heated skin

 

Luffy’s hands clutched onto Law’s shoulders to keep himself from sinking into an invisible quicksand of madness that was pulling him in. Maybe he was drowning. He was going to be helplessly swept away if not consumed. A storm of passion was crashing against his entire being, waves of emotion wildly splashing against his mind and threatening to take him to the depths of his desire. And Luffy wanted that—to drown in everything that Law was about to give him and more.

 

He was still just using his hand.

 

Luffy trembled on the mattress and tried not to squirm so much as Law picked up speed and force. A beautiful shade of pink splashed across the demon’s chest where it crept up to his face and all the way to his ears. His eyebrows were knotted, eyes half-closed and struggling to be kept open so he could look at Law and show him that he was still very,  _ very _ needy.

 

“Does this feel bad?” Law asked with a heavy stare as he pushed himself up so he could take a good look at his incubus on the bed, “You don’t want this?”

 

Luffy wasn’t sure what to tell his human. Two questions felt like too many to answer right now with those hands playing in his ass and those eyes boring into his whole persona.

 

“N-no, I just…” Luffy shook his head, unable to hide how breathless he was as he felt Law’s fingers slowly spreading, “I… Haven’t…”

 

“Haven’t what? Done this before?”

 

Okay, now  _ that _ didn’t even sound like a proper question. It sounded more like Law confirming something that he figured out already. Luffy’s eyes drifted towards his human whom he found wearing the smuggest expression anyone could wear during sex. 

 

Huh? Did Law  _ really _ figure out that Luffy never let himself get fingered?  _ How _ !? 

 

Luffy was really in no state to try and think in the middle of getting finger fucked for the first time so his best bet was to attempt to explain.

 

But even before Luffy could get a word out, Law just pushed the sinful digits  _ so deliciously hard _ into Luffy’s ass in one go. Wild tingles shot up to Luffy’s brain, jarring his thoughts and keeping him from forming a sentence, a word, or a coherent sound. The demon’s hands fell on the mattress as he twitched in surprise, shocks exploding all over his small body. More precum spilled across his stomach with the sudden movement, a strangled sound escaping his mouth as his trembling legs jerked so that his feet were flat on the bed. Law seemed to approve of this new position and pushed Luffy’s thighs further apart with his other hand.

 

“Answer me.” The man said sternly as he shifted on the bed, “Is this your first time being fingered?”

 

Biting his lip again, Luffy nodded. Law responded by sensually licking his lips. The demon groaned, willing back his orgasm so hard by that unexpected sexy display. God, his human was a sin.

 

“And you were keeping me from being your first?” Law feigned offense in his voice. He moved again, sitting on his haunches as his hand kept moving in and out of the nice tight entrance that was getting touched like this for the first time. Luffy’s feet were flat on the bed, knees raised, hips strained to keep from bucking into Law’s hand. Law had to stop adjusting his postures and sitting positions because Luffy’s brain was having a difficult time keeping up with all the changing angles.

 

But, oh, those fingers just pressed and curled so delightfully good inside him that Luffy was reprimanding himself for not letting Law do this sooner. This whole fingering thing turned him on really fast. The man’s cock was hard and dripping between his legs. It bounced slightly with Law’s every movement and the demon’s mouth felt empty and dry so suddenly.

 

“What are you thinking about?” Law pushed in hard again and the right answer would’ve been “Your cock” had Luffy not moaned loudly instead. His brain was somehow making the connection between the fingers in his ass and the slit on the head of Law’s dick glistening with precum.

 

“Who did you want to be first, Luffy?”

 

“Tha-that’s not what I—Ahh!”

 

Law might have had enough of Luffy’s reasons and spacing out, but if he didn’t want to hear full answers then maybe he should stop asking. The sinful human buried his two fingers in completely in one hard push, sliding back out quickly, and then back in again harshly. And then again. And again. And yes, shit,  _ again _ ! 

 

Oh, if Law wanted an answer, this was not the way to do it. But if he wanted Luffy to lose his mind, this was definitely the right way to go. Law was absolutely splendid with his hands and Luffy was never, ever going to argue with him about it again.

 

The meat of Law’s palm kept on making distinct slapping sounds against Luffy’s skin as the demon’s body heaved, jolted, and trembled at the new sensation jarring his senses over and over like it was never going to stop. His eyes were closed and his lips were glistening wet. His mouth hung open, unsure whether to moan or to gasp, hands grabbing onto the sheets, fingers pulling on the material as if to help him cope. His hips shook and Law thought back to how he was behaving the same this morning while being jerked off in the kitchen. 

 

Was this the kind of face he had when Law made him come using only his hand? So this really  _ was  _ Luffy’s first time getting fingered? 

 

God damn, his demon was such a beautiful fuckable mess that made Law feel like a damn  _ sex god _ .

 

Shit, this was something he was definitely going to have wet dreams about. He’d like to see Luffy like this for him more often.

 

“You know, you can do this to yourself, too.” Law said a little breathlessly from his movement. But that just made his voice a notch more sexier to Luffy’s ears as the boy’s eyes opened wide in surprise. It was an atrocious suggestion. What was Law saying!? And why was Luffy even  _ considering _ !?

 

His next words were more specific.

 

“You can reach back with your own fingers…”

 

“Nnnghh…!” Luffy’s eyes closed tightly and turned his head to one side, “S-stop talking, Law...!”

 

“So when I’m not around…” Law smiled naughtily, purposely making his voice lower and breathier and paying no heed to how Luffy whimpered in confusion. He was cute this way—sexually bewildered and compliant amidst his useless little attempts to resist. Law could do this all day. 

 

“Or maybe if you want me to watch…”

 

“L-Law…!” Luffy’s hands reached for the pillow his head was on and squeezed it in an attempt to cover his ears, “D-Don’t… D-don’t talk l-like—!”

 

“But you look so hot, Luffy.” Law sounded like he was looking at something he’d never seen before, “Don’t you want to look like this for me?”

 

Oh dear god. Luffy had nothing on that. He was failing as an incubus so fucking hard but  _ who cared _ !? Not Luffy, obviously. He really couldn’t give a shit as long as this man enjoyed pleasuring him like this. 

 

So Law loved him when he looked dirty? When he was submissive, breathless, and disoriented? Well, if that was the case, he had no qualms being tied up, blindfolded, spanked, cuffed, gagged, and submitted to all the other naughty things that Law would come up with.

 

Fuck, at this rate, Luffy was going to be trapped  _ forever _ .

 

The man carefully leaned forward, the angle of his fingers changing again. The moment their lips touched again, Luffy knew there was really no point in resisting. The incubus moaned into the kiss, eyes closing blissfully. The feeling of Law’s warm, soft lips on his and the fingers going in and out of him were competing for whatever scrap of attention Luffy’s brain could toss around.

 

When Law’s tongue started licking the demon’s bottom lip, Luffy opened his mouth willingly for him. It was almost automatic how the man’s tongue ventured into Luffy’s sweet mouth and the demon just let his human taste him for how many times he’s already done today. 

 

Law had done nothing but conquer him since he got home. Even when Luffy made him climax earlier, that was because Law had told him to do it. It was no happy accident. It wasn’t planned either. Luffy wasn’t the one who brought it down upon his human out of his own demonic volition. He was  _ ordered to _ do so. It was all Law. 

 

And now the man was doing it again. Law was invading him—the tongue in his mouth, the fingers in his ass, the sensations in his mind. Law was inside him, exploring him like he promised, making his body understand just who the fuck he belonged to. And yes,  _ yes _ , god damn it, Luffy  _ did _ belong to Law. This man owned him. No one else. And all Luffy could do was lie there and accept what Law wanted to do with his body, revelling in the fact that his gorgeous host desired for him enough to come home only hours after being away.

 

“M-More…” Luffy moaned helplessly, “D-deeper… P-please…”

 

Law licked his lips and slowly pushed himself away from Luffy. With his free hand, Law pushed back Luffy’s thighs, bending the smaller body so that his knees were almost pressed against his chest. 

 

“Wh-wha—!” Luffy yelped, eyelids flying open, and gaze hitting the ceiling because holy fucking  _ damn _ , Law’s fingers  _ did _ go deeper. It wasn’t like Luffy didn’t  _ know _ the effect of this position because it was also used for sex, but he just really wasn’t used to getting such amazing feelings from fingers alone. Law was so amazing with his hands. Luffy had the best human  _ ever _ .

 

“That’s right. Hold your legs towards you like this.” Law nodded at him. The movement of his fingers slowed down to almost a halt, but Law didn’t pull them out. 

 

There was that commanding, dominant voice that Luffy couldn’t ever say no to. He let go of the pillow he was holding onto so that his trembling fingers could reach for his own thighs and pull it against his heaving chest. Law’s free hand slipped under Luffy’s ass and pushed him up a bit, making him squeak. Luffy’s eyes flickered towards his human who was looking at him approvingly. 

 

“Good boy.”

 

Luffy wanted to moan appreciatively, but Law’s fingers started moving hard and fast again.

 

“Ah, L-Law…!!  _ Law _ …!”

 

The man’s fingers  _ twisted _ as he thrust his fingers inside and this new position made Law fuck him almost vertically with his hand. What the  _ hell _ ? Luffy felt himself being stretched further, the furious movement ramming mercilessly into him. And he just  _ laid there _ , pushed back into a very lewd position, exposing his ass willingly to be hammered by a human’s goddamn  _ hand. _ He loved it. Luffy absolutely  _ loved _ every single second of it.

 

Luffy panted loudly thanks to this new angle that made it feel like Law was reaching deeper than he was supposed to—fingers stretching Luffy, pressing against his walls, and calling in wave after wave of pleasure to drown him. The man’s heated eyes never left his incubus. Not even for a moment. And Luffy wondered if Law liked what he saw.

 

Under the man’s smoldering gaze, Luffy felt weak and vulnerable, but so, so  _ wanted _ . He almost wished for Law to never stop. His own fingers dug hard into his own thighs, which just added more to the brain-wrecking sensation of being invaded so good. 

 

“See,” Law was saying now and Luffy was guilty of being unaware of anything else his human had said before that. “You can even add another…”

 

Another?

 

With much ease and without warning, Law slipped in a third finger and woah, wait, that was just supposed to be not fucking—holy fuck!

 

“A-aaah…!! Aaaahh…!!”

 

The demon’s hands squeezed his thighs harder as his eyes grew wide in shock before closing again. Dear god, he was getting stretched further than he thought he could be and even though that wasn’t going to have any effect later, it still felt so damn  _ ravishing _ . Fucking shit, Luffy both loved and hated how Law had been surprising him too much but he wasn’t going to complain. Law’s ministrations felt too amazing for Luffy to even consider that he used to “not want this”. He’d take anything for Law, do anything for him. Anything.  _ Anything at all. _

 

“Mhhh…! L-Law…!”

 

Luffy shamelessly spread his legs further and pushed himself up to meet the thrusting of Law’s fingers. His neglected cock kept on bouncing against this stomach where the drops of precum landed. So  _ obscene. _ So  _ vulgar _ . But he needed more of this and Law wanted to see him like this.

 

So, yes, more.

 

More. 

 

Luffy needed  _ more _ .

 

“You look so fucking scandalous, Luffy. Are you enjoying it?” Law asked, his breath hitching, but still thick and oozing with arousal, “Do you like this?”

 

Luffy nodded helplessly, slowly opening his eyes and slightly lifting his head. From this position, he could see Law’s tattooed hand moving in and out of his tight hole. Holy sweet fucking hell, why was that such a turn on? He took a deep breath that ended in a groan, unsure how he was going to get that image out of his mind as his head fell back. The dull ceiling shook and made no sense, but Luffy wasn’t registering much of anything. He’d never felt this pleasured by mere hands before. And this was just  _ so damn good _ . 

 

He was glad he let Law do this. He was glad that Law was first. 

 

And Luffy wanted him to be last.

 

“Now remember how I’m doing it.” The way Law murmured made Luffy forget how his last thought was not the plan for their relationship. The beautiful human licked his lips and Luffy could only look on powerlessly. 

 

“You can only touch yourself thinking of me. Do you understand?”

 

Did that mean he was given permission? Was that permission to touch himself when Law was not around?

 

“Nnngh…!” Luffy was gritting his teeth as his eyes screwed shut, head pushing back against the pillow and gasping, “Y-yes...! I’ll… Only ever… Nnngghh… Law…!  _ Please _ …!”

 

“Please?” Law murmured lowly and Luffy wasn’t sure if his human was doing it on purpose, “Please what…? Do you want something?”

 

Oh? Law wanted him to beg. Okay, yeah, he could do that. He  _ definitely _ wanted to do that.

 

“N-need…” Luffy huffed breathlessly, gripping his thighs harder, “Need you…” 

 

The burning look of desire in Law’s eyes just encouraged Luffy to talk more.

 

“Need... Your cock… Inside…  _ Please _ ...”

 

Luffy pulled his legs further apart and bent it back towards his chest like a shameless gesture for Law to just shove his dick inside and fuck him until he lost his mind.

 

“N-need… to be used…”

 

And that seemed to get the message across because the expression that spread across Law’s face was a naughty, devilish smile that sent Luffy’s mind out the window and straight towards the moon. The demon’s borrowed heart skipped a beat as he felt the fingers being pulled out. He felt a bit empty, but he knew that wasn’t for long as the man gently pulled Luffy’s legs down so that his feet were firmly on the mattress. He felt a strain on his legs and knees, but it didn’t matter with how Law was looking at him right now.

 

The human carefully drank in the image of the naked body laid out in front of him to claim. The marks on his neck looked more vivid than they actually were, reminding Law how this hot little thing belonged solely to him. There were white drops drying up on Luffy’s skin and his throbbing cock  _ still _ leaked with need as his eyes looked beggingly at Law. 

 

“L-Law, please…”

 

The way his mouth moved as he spoke was hypnotic and the voice that came out was breathless and weak.

 

“Please… I need…”

 

This was so much better than the vision he had earlier today.

 

“Sssh.” Law whispered, pushing Luffy’s legs apart and aligning himself with the hot and wet entrance, “Don’t worry. I want to be inside you, too…”

 

Luffy nodded quietly and without saying any more, Law gently pushed inside, eyes locked with the incubus on his bed. The demon cooed and moaned his human’s name as Law’ cock slowly disappeared into the the tight hotness that was Luffy’s ass. The incubus had not stretched one bit from Law’s fingers, but he had no trouble taking in Law’s throbbing length. Halfway through, the human looked up to see what expression Luffy was wearing and all the only thing he found was heated desire to be fucked, taken, and owned. And Law couldn’t really deny Luffy when he looked this sexily debauched.

 

With one movement, Law pushed the rest of his cock inside Luffy.  _ Hard _ . 

 

“Ahgk! Law!” Luffy screamed, eyes widening, irises flashing red, mouth open, and fangs bare.

 

Luffy cried out loudly in affirmation, toes curling against the sheets and hands flying back to grab onto the headboard, but missing and fisted into the sheets instead. Law had fallen forward in surprise as well, but managed to lean on his forearm just in time to keep him from falling on Luffy who had no care for the world anymore. 

 

The sensations were instant. There was heat. So much  _ heat _ running throughout their veins, rocking their senses with every flow of delicious passion that instantly drenched their bodies and fucking shit hell  _ Christ— _ what the fuck?! The heat that engulfed Law’s length was  _ crazy _ and the tightness that was squeezing him was so right, it was  _ impossible _ . Law’s dick throbbed as Luffy clenched around him like a frantic invitation to please, please,  _ please _ start thrusting.

 

He hadn’t even  _ moved _ yet. What was going on?! Where the hell where all these sensations coming from!?

 

“L-Luffy…” Law whispered into his demon’s ear, trying to brush away the small voices in his head telling him to just pound into the small body that had been clearly asking for it, “Luf… Luffy, are… Are you okay?”

 

Law couldn’t see Luffy’s scarlet eyes staring blankly at the ceiling as he breathed heavily.

 

“Luffy?”

 

The demon swallowed hard. He felt full. And warm, no,  _ burning. _

 

This wasn’t a dream, right?

 

“You’re… You’re inside me…” The boy said softly and Law pulled away to look at his face. The crimson orbs gaping at the ceiling should be scary, but they weren’t. Not with Luffy looking like he had succumbed to whatever Law’s will had for him. His head had thrown as far back into the pillow as he could, mouth open, constantly gasping, trying to find air that had been stolen and replaced by pleasure. 

 

Everything was so damn right with the world right now. If anyone or anything was going to ruin this, Luffy was going to full on  _ murder mode _ .

 

“You’re really, really inside me…” 

 

Luffy didn’t sound like he could hear anything as he started moving his hips, startling Law a bit because  _ he _ was on top and he was the one that’s supposed to—The slight friction was enough to start some sparks that had Law gasping both in surprise and pleasure.

 

“Oh god…!” Luffy’s legs moved, pushing his small body up and down and _ wait just a fucking minute _ . Was his incubus trying to ride him  _ invertedly _ !? 

 

“L-Luffy…!” Law’s hands grabbed Luffy’s hips, but didn’t stop his movement.

 

“Oh god, Law, it’s you…!” Luffy’s voice was getting louder, his pushing getting harder as his hands strained and shook above his head to give him more force and control, “Your cock… It’s really… You’re really—”

 

“Yeah.” Law said, fingers gripping Luffy’s hips tightly so Law could pull his dick out a bit, “Now  _ let me fuck you. _ ”

 

The man pushed back in hard, fast, and sudden, the slapping of their skins sounding so good amidst Luffy screaming his name over and over. Good god, it was already so hot inside this little body and his muscles had been massaging Law’s cock in a way that he couldn’t explain, but that was  _ nothing _ when Law had started moving. The sensation around his hardened member was filled with so much  _ sinful desire _ . With every push, Law could feel Luffy’s passage making way for him before sucking him in deeper. And when he pulled out, all his body wanted to was to ram his cock back in again. Luffy’s sweet cries of his name echoed amidst his pleasured, obscene moans. There was an intense tingling running up and down Law’s spine with every slide of his dick against Luffy’s tight, trembling walls. 

 

Fucking  _ shit _ , Law had fucked a virgin  _ once _ in his life and even  _ that _ didn’t compare to how goddamn awesome Luffy clenched around him.

 

“How…” Law’s hips snapped fervently, his brain unable to understand the kind of furious hunger he had for Luffy, “How are you this fucking tight!?”

 

Luffy just moaned back loudly, not even resisting Law’s heated pace.

 

“Shit, Luffy!” Law panted, gritting his teeth hard with every movement so that his cursing barely escaped his lips, “ _ Shit _ !”

 

“Do you like it?” Luffy’s voice was thick, steamy, and so fucking  _ naughty _ .

 

“Yeah.” Law managed to answer as he watched his own hardness pumping in and out of his demon’s nice tight hotness. Good god, he was so wet, too. How was that even fucking possible?

 

“Do I feel good, Law?”

 

He looked up. Luffy was lying with hands resting on either side of his head. The incubus peered up with glassy, dark eyes at the man that was pounding mercilessly into him like he was trying to break the wall. The multiple marks on his neck looked so fucking perfect as his chest heaved up and down and his hair bounced with every push that Law gave him.

 

“Yeah… You do…” Law mumbled, not even breaking eye contact so Luffy knew he damn  _ meant it _ , “You fucking  _ do _ , you delicious little thing…” 

 

Luffy’s eyes screwed shut at how that sounded absolutely  _ awesome _ . Law enjoyed him. Law called him  _ delicious _ . That word never mattered to him so much before. Luffy never knew he was worried about Law not relishing his body until he heard those words and felt relief. Fuck, life was so fucking  _ good _ ! 

 

“Your cock feels so good inside me, too, Law…” Luffy panted mindlessly, words spilling out too honest and dirty that it almost didn’t make sense. But the wave of pleasure quickly building up to cover them was more than enough to drown whatever control Luffy had left to stay quiet. “You feel so fucking deep inside me and I just… I... “ 

 

Law  _ had _ to know. Luffy  _ had _ to tell him.

 

“This is so much... So much better than any of my  _ dreams _ …!” Luffy all but screamed, unable to stop himself from speaking anymore, “Ngghh… You’re so perfectly deep in me, you don’t even… Nnnaaaahh...” 

 

Luffy wanted to think that he was made exactly for Law, that every experience he had was so that it lead up to this moment. So that Law could hammer against his body without mercy and he could take it, enjoy it, and return all the pleasure twice over. 

 

“P-please... Don’t stop, Law! I.. I want more!” 

 

The human grunted, groaned, and shifted a bit. Luffy kept talking.

 

“G-give me more! Fuck me mo—Nggaaaahh!”

 

Luffy’s body jerked and jolted, stars dancing in front of his eyes as Law hit the magical spot that Luffy was used to finding on his own when he was with his victims. And Law  _ found it _ , that sweet spot of pleasure that Luffy hadn’t bothered to let any of his previous partners find on their own on the rare occasions that he bottomed. 

 

Shit, this was meant to be. This was fucking  _ meant to be _ . Law slammed heavily right back in, hitting that same amazing spot harder and shit, Luffy wasn’t going to shut up for anything in the world.

 

“Oh god…!”

 

The world around them just shattered beautifully.

 

“Oh, god, fuck—!” Luffy gasped, suddenly aware of how he couldn’t decide if he was to open or close his mouth, “Yes…!”

 

“Theeeere we go...” Law looked proud of himself as he looked down on the breathless body on the bed. The man hadn’t stopped from slamming his hips and hitting Luffy’s prostate dead on with each push. How could he? All the moans, sighs, pants, and whimpers the incubus had been making was starting to pull away at Law’s control.

 

“Mhh… Aaahh…! S-so… Aaah...!”

 

The sheets had come off around where Luffy was pulling and the boy was starting to drool with how his mind had jumped all over the place. Law wanted to dip his tongue into that sweet mouth again, but decided to just watch Luffy’s body being rocked by deep thrusts. He looked so fragile right now, so weak. Under Law’s fingertips, he was nothing—nothing but his. And what was a man to do if not revel in his newfound form of power?

 

“Do you like this, hm?” Law was struggling to keep from coming himself, but he felt too supreme to let this pass. “Does it feel good getting fucked like this?” 

 

“Ye-Ye—Nnnaaahhh…!”

 

Luffy almost sounded like he had given up on functioning properly. His voice had gotten pitchy against the creaking of the bed and the sound of the headboard hitting the wall. Law leaned forward and licked Luffy’s ear.

 

“You’re fucking  _ mine _ , you hear me?” the man bit the shell of Luffy’s ear just enough to be distracting, “ _ Mine _ .”

 

“A-all—Ahnn—Yours—Ghhaagh…!” Luffy huffed, his mind lost in pleasure, but somewhat trained to respond properly to affirm that he did belong to Law. “I’m all y—L-Law, wha—!”

 

How was Law’s hand suddenly around Luffy’s dick now?!

 

“L-Law… Law, I don’t…” the demon pushed uselessly against his human, “Y-you don’t have to—”

 

“I want to.” Law’s thrusts were getting erratic as he whispered against Luffy’s ear. “I want to come making you feel good.”

 

Luffy groaned. How could Law say things that Luffy didn’t even know he wanted to hear?

 

“Law…” Luffy was melting as he felt his beloved’s fingers move up and down his weeping length in the same rhythm as the cock that was pushing in and out of his ass, “This is so good… You’re so good...”

 

Law really wanted Luffy to come first. He’d deprived his little demon long enough. Luffy deserved to get there first, but Law wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to last. His consciousness drifted for a while and without thinking, Law found himself mouthing against Luffy’s neck as he breathed heavily. 

 

He smelled so nice, this little demon of his.

 

“O-oh!” Luffy’s leg twitched, arms suddenly wrapping around Law’s torso from under his shoulders, “L-La—”

 

And Law sucked hard on the kiss-blemished skin.

 

“Aahhgk!” Luffy’s red eyes weren’t sure what to focus on and the thread of his control just totally  _ snapped _ . His fangs protruded and fiercely sank into Law’s neck without warning. The warmth consumed him in one go as desire surged throughout his system, blinding him from reason.

 

The human groaned, but mostly in pleasure. There wasn’t a single drop of pain on Law’s part as those fangs drew blood, setting his skin on fire, and sending his brain into a vortex of amazing feelings that Law didn’t even try to fight back. He could hear Luffy’s voice in his head, and he couldn’t make out what he was saying exactly, but the body underneath him felt so perfect against his so words didn’t matter. Law could feel his blood surging out of his body in a flood of passion that made him feel more alive than he ever had been.

 

“A-ah…! L-Luffy…!” Law’s hand tried to keep up with how hard and fast his hips were thrusting driven by the sheer pleasure of Luffy’s mouth sucking on his blood, “Shit, this feels—  _ fuck _ , you are such a good boy!”

 

That was a goddamn  _ complement _ that Luffy was taking with a moan and deeply closed eyes as he continued drinking from his human who didn’t sound like he wanted any of this to stop either. The demon’s arms tightened around Law to draw him closer so they could feel more of each other’s body heat. Luffy consumed the mana-rich blood that he’d been yearning for since he’d laid eyes on Law. And damn, did he taste so much better with sex. 

 

Law was sunshine. Law was morning dew. Law was the gushing water from the river down to the falls, hitting the rocks hard with every splash that made Luffy’s brain scatter with delight. Law was the life in Luffy’s veins, the reason he was going to exist from now on, and the sin he was going to commit for the rest of his life.

 

Law was his soul. His very own  _ soul _ .

 

“Luffy…” Law panted and Luffy could feel his lips move sloppily against his skin, “Luffy, I’m gonna…”

 

The man’s hand was starting to move weirdly.

 

“Ngh.. I wanted…” Law sounded desperate, almost like he had failed at something, “I… wanted… to come with you… at least...”

 

Oh, Law was very good at making Luffy want to cry with happiness. He was so sweet. Why didn’t he know that?

 

The incubus moved his hips up really hard to meet Law’s thrust just one time.

 

_ Fill me. Please. _

 

The hot, tight muscles clenched around Law so perfectly, it was impossible not to just give in.

 

“Sh—shi—Nggh!” 

 

Law never knew he could come so hard as he shot everything he had inside Luffy, thrusting like he could get in more of his cock when he was already fully sheathed. His hot little demon came right there with him, back arching from the bed and pressing against Law’s body, mouth not leaving his neck, and tongue still lapping on the blood seeping out of the punctured skin. Law could feel the hot, sticky liquid against his own stomach as Luffy’s muscles convulsed around him, milking him with all he had. And Law just let him do whatever because his incubus was just so fucking good at this. So. Fucking. Good at this.

 

The sound of Luffy moaning against his neck went nicely with the stars dancing across Law’s vision as he spilled as much as he could into the tight little body of pleasure until he was totally spent.

 

Law just collapsed on top of Luffy, suddenly realizing how he was very, very short on air. The demon beneath him caught him without effort. Luffy’s legs loosened around him carefully as he gently put his feet flat on the bed so that Law’s body rested between his legs. 

 

There was a sticky feeling between them that should have grossed the fuck out of Law, but he was too tired and sated to care. He’d rather focus on breathing.

 

“Please don’t pull out yet.” Luffy whispered and rubbed his nose gently against Law’s ear, “Stay with me for a few more seconds.”

 

Law made a small noise that he hoped Luffy would understand as “Okay.” He was too tired to move anyway. 

 

Luffy smiled and breathed into Law’s skin, his after-sex warmth like a soothing ripple against his body. He could sense Law trying to calm his own breathing and could feel his human’s heart pounding hard against his own chest. The demon pressed a kiss on the side of Law’s head as he immersed himself in the feeling of Law’s raging senses starting to tame itself to normal. 

 

This happened. He finally had sex with Law. And he was right about it being the best thing ever. 

 

Luffy’s small hand came up and stroked Law’s hair all the way down to his spine. He was rewarded with his human’s nice little purr of contentment.

 

“Mmm.” Law mumbled against the sheets bunched up next to his face, “You’re the best.”

 

That wasn’t supposed to be surprising because incubi were  _ meant _ to be amazing sexual partners, but Luffy could feel himself blush furiously at Law’s remark. His human was sappy, awkward, and cute when they were alone sometimes. And that was fine. He didn’t want to share this with anyone else.

 

“You’re my god.” Luffy whispered as lovingly as he could.

 

“You’re stupid.” Law groaned, but was half-laughing. Luffy smiled.

 

_ I love you.  _

 

...Luffy wanted to say. But he held his tongue. 

 

The last time he said that, Law just clicked the phone at him. Things were going well right now and Luffy didn’t want to ruin it by saying something that would make things awkward so. Like, sure, it wasn’t a secret how Luffy just  _ adored _ Law, but… Well… Luffy felt the need to say those three words just so his feelings were made clear. It was simple, really, and there should be no problem with that, but he was… kind of scared?

 

Why?

 

Because falling in love so hard with a human was dangerous for a demon. Especially for Luffy. 

 

“I can’t breathe.” The man said, interrupting whatever thoughts the incubus had and Luffy kissed his shoulder before Law slowly pulled out. Luffy moaned a bit, enjoying the small movement before feeling empty and alone, but not for more than a second. His human strangely still had the mind to grab some kind of clothing or whatever to clean themselves up with really quick. And then Law laid back, pulled the demon carefully into his arms, nuzzled  into his hair, and wrapped his legs gently around the small body.

 

Luffy rubbed his nose against Law’s collarbone before breathing into his skin. His heartbeat was music to Luffy’s ears and he quietly felt for his own borrowed one, wondering if he could do something so its sound would match Law’s. But he really wasn’t good in dealing with heart-related stuff. This was his first time having one beating in his chest. And to be honest, it wasn’t such a bad thing. 

 

“That was fucking amazing.” Law whispered with eyes closed and sounding half-awake as he kept on mumbling, “I want to do it again.”

 

Luffy gasped and almost choked on nothing upon hearing that, but knew that his human was too tired. Maybe Luffy drank too much blood? Things happened so fast that he couldn’t help it. Luffy should be more careful next time.

 

“We’re going to do it again.” Law sounded sleepier.

 

“Okay.” Luffy replied softly as his arms circled his human carefully. Law mumbled some more incoherent things that Luffy just chuckled to.

 

So cute. He really loved his human.  _ Really _ . 

 

God, he was so stupidly in love with Law. This was going to kill him eventually. And if it were going to die, he might as well say it now. After all, humans did refer to sex as “making love”, didn’t they? So maybe this was a good time after all? Maybe it wouldn’t be so awkward? Maybe Law would love him back?

 

Ah, Luffy hated how he was so sure about his feelings, but undecided about how to tell his human.

 

“Law…” Luffy began, feeling his heart fluttering lightly.

 

“Mmm?” Law was barely awake. 

 

The incubus took a deep breath. He was going to say it. He was going to  _ say it _ . 

 

“I…” Luffy swallowed hard, “I love you.”

 

“Nummhrrnuh…” Law sighed and patted Luffy on the head. “N’re welcome...”

 

What?

 

Luffy lifted his head to send Law a confused, questioning look only to find that the man was already asleep.

 

Perhaps it was a bad idea to try and pull that off after making Law come that hard. The demon sighed and resigned himself to resting in his human’s arms. They still had the rest of the day to go. One day—sooner or later—he was going to get a proper response. 

 

But right now, he was getting cuddled.

  
All was right with the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaand there we have it. They finally did it and I finally got to write it. Sorry if it took a while to put these up but as I said previously, it took too long and I’m pretty sure you guys would prefer to read until they went all the way. Would be a bitch reading smut ending right in the middle. Or am I wrong? 
> 
> To everyone who left comments, has left comments, and will be leaving comments thanks very much. It makes me happy and feedback helps a lot. (Pro Tip: Leave comments for other authors, too. We like that.)
> 
> If it’s not so much trouble, I’d love to read your thoughts on the last two chapters because I don’t really write two-chapter smut things. I just felt like having sex with an incubus shouldn’t be anything like doing it with a normal human being. So I ended up with a long as fuck chapter. And I ended up having to split it. Am I making sense? Please let me know what you thought. I’d appreciate it a lot. 
> 
> Also, thanks who have left asks/messages on Tumblr. I’ve seen them and some I haven’t replied to because I’m scared I’m going to spoil my own story. But I’m not ignoring you!! I just… really don’t know what to say sometimes? Sorry about that.
> 
> So with that said, yeah, there’s still more to the story. I hope you’re still interested. Thanks again!


	16. Insatiable

It took several  _ highly spirited _ rounds of passionate “sex-sleep-more sex” with his incubus before Law’s brain started to realize he needed to be rehydrated. Pulling on a shirt over his head to go with a clean pair of boxers, Law headed down to drink a glass or two of water. The next course of action was supposed to be to go upstairs and  _ sleep _ .

 

So how in the living hell did he end up with Luffy underneath him again in the middle of the living room?

 

Simple. His demon had followed him downstairs and practically jumped him just as he was about to get his phone from the bag he had dropped earlier. And it was really easy snowballing from there. So now Luffy was on the floor, panting  _ encouragingly... _

 

“Oh, god, Law,  _ yes _ ! There!”

 

...And the human was going to be damned if he didn’t deliver.

 

“How… How do you sound so good…?” Law’s words came out as breaths that were as harsh as his thrusts into the tight, hot, and sweaty body beneath him. 

 

“Because you fuck me so good…!” Luffy’s hands were above his head and clawing on the floor for dear life, legs clinging around his human’s body as he moved his hips to meet Law’s every push. Having the obedient little demon on all fours was ideal, but Law worried about possible stains. He should fix his living room so it was sex-friendly.

 

“I don’t ever want you to stop…! Law…  _ Law _ …!”

 

Luffy’s screams would sound so sexy being muffled against the throw pillows.   
  


“God damn it.” was all Law could manage reply, his hips snapping forward fervently as Luffy kept moaning like it was how he  _ breathed _ . The incubus panted loudly, eyes closed, and head thrown back if not turning left and right like he didn’t know what to do anymore. His neck was teeming with the marks that Law had left on it. Those were going to be a problem later, maybe, but not now. Not when the twitching of Luffy’s legs with Law’s every delightful push was subtle, but so damn arousing.

 

Luffy acted like he was either being fucked for the first time in his life or so damn experienced. There was no in between. And throughout that, he was just so fucking willing and obedient.

 

And so damn  _ tight _ .

 

“Lu… Luffy…”

 

“Y-yeah, come on, Law.” Luffy lifted his hips harder to meet Law’s movements because clearly, he was about to come for… He really didn’t count how many times they’ve done it since he got home. He just knew it wasn’t supposed to be humanly possible for him to keep up with Luffy’s insatiable streak anymore. But maybe that was just the effect an incubus had on human beings.

 

“All of it…” the demon gasped needily, “Need all of it… Inside...”

 

“Sh-shi—”

 

It was absolutely amazing how Luffy managed to trigger mind-blowing orgasms with just his words. He’d always orgasm at the same time as Law unless he was told to come first. The shudders that ran throughout Law’s body always felt new to him and, god, he might never get enough of it. 

 

With Luffy’s passionate cries of delight still lingering in his ears, Law leaned on his forearm to prevent himself from collapsing on the small body underneath him. He needed a few gasps of air to help recollect his strength before he slowly pulled out, making Luffy moan so softly. Law feared  _ that _ might just get him hard and horny enough to ram his cock back in.  _ Again. _

 

The fact that grabbing any of their discarded clothing to clean them up was  _ already _ almost instinctive to Law should say something about how his sexual relationship with Luffy was impacting his life. Fuck. He couldn’t bring himself to care, though, as he fell on his stomach next to his wonderful sensual demon on the floor.

 

“Wow.” Luffy huffed, lying on his back and looking at the ceiling.”This has been nothing but amazing.”

 

Law grunted and pulled his demon closer. The man had a love-hate relationship with how it was so comforting to cuddle with his incubus after every damn orgasm he had. But Luffy was so warm and soft. Law  _ had _ to cradle him in his arms. He smelled nice, too, especially after sex.

 

Law was in this state of mind when a familiar, muffled chime reached his ears. What was that? He looked around and realized it was coming from inside his fallen bag nearby. Realizing he was hearing his borrowed phone’s ringtone, Law reached for his bag and pulled out his phone from one of the front pockets. Shachi’s damn phone has the most hideous built in ringtones, which made Law anxious to get his own phone back.

 

“You should let me ride you next time.” Luffy whispered as he turned his head to look at Law who was trying to twist himself so he could pacify the beeping device without having to move much. Luffy didn’t seem to mind. “I could ride you next round, Law.”

 

“There  _ is _ no next round.” Law grunted and looked at the screen as he settled back beside Luffy. The ringing had already died down by the time Law managed to navigate the thing. The thirty-two missed calls were a bit disturbing. What in the hell would anyone need of him to merit that many calls? Had any of his friends caught fire that could only be doused by Law’s spit or something? His inbox would tell a better story, perhaps, because looking at it now, Law never thought he’d received so many messages in his life at one instant. More importantly, reading the messages by order of how they were received was… interesting.

 

Bonney.  _ Law, Robin said you went home early. Are you okay?  _

 

Bonney.  _ Are you getting this message? _

 

Bonney.  _ BRUH _

 

Penguin.  _ Test. _

 

Cora-san.  _ Heyyyyyyy neph-you! How’s you? :3 Sorry if I haven’t been in touch. Caesar put me back on medication that makes me sleep a lot. D: Anyway, I’m confirming if you’re coming over for the weekend. Reply as soon as you can! Love yah, son! :D <3  _

 

Bonney.  _ We’ve been trying to call you. Your phone is dead. Contact us when you see this. _

 

Cora-san.  _ Oh. Bring Luffy with you. He can sleep over. :3  _

  
Bonney.  _ R u alive motherfucker  _

 

Penguin.  _ Law? _

 

Shachi.  _ Law text us back when you see this _

 

Bonney.  _ Asshole we’re worried. And what am I supposed to tell Kalifa?!?!?!?! Text me back! _

 

Bonney.  _ Bro txt us back dafuq _

 

Baby Five.  _ Law did u receive Cora-san’s texts? He’s worried. _

 

Penguin.  _ Bonney won’t shut up. She thinks ur dying. Txt any of us back. _

 

Shachi.  _ I’m sending you dick picks if you don’t reply _

 

Penguin.  _ If you’re not Law and you’re reading this message could you at least tell us or smth? Pls? We dyin here _

 

Shachi. _ I’m not sending dick picks whoever you are _

 

Cora-san.  _ Not sure if my last message got through. U ok? Anyway, pretty sure Doffy would like to meet Luffy, too. They have the same last three letters!!! :D Text me back to confirm or something. :)  _

 

Bonney  _ Law!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  _

 

Baby Five.  _ Is this Trafalgar Law’s number? _

 

Unidentified number.  _ Is this Donquixote Rocinante’s nephew’s number? Are you doing well? Do respond. -Vergo. _

 

Cora-san.  _ Sorry to disturb you but is this my nephew’s number? If it’s not, please clarify. I’m sorry. But if you’re Law, please confirm that I have the right number???????? Have you received my previous messages?  _

 

Unidentified number. _ This is your uncle. Roci won’t shut up. I know you’re alive. Text the man when you get the time.  _

 

Bonney.  _ I swear to god, Law. Txt me back or call me u asshole I’m going to shear ur balls off _

 

Cora-san.  _ If you’re busy, it’s fine. Sorry. Haha. :))) Just text me back when you get the time. TCCIC*!!  <3 _

 

Oh dear god. His voicemail was probably going to be more colorful. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to check that, even. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Law proceeded to compose a text message to Cora-san until the phone started ringing again. 

 

“Who the fuck?”

 

_ Bonney the Banshee. _

 

Law braced himself for some yelling as he picked up.

 

“Hello?” 

 

“—these things, you kno—Hello?” She sounded disoriented for a while and Law allowed himself a small chuckle a few seconds right before the screaming flooded in. “Hello, Law!?  _ Law _ !? Is that you!?” 

 

“Yeah.” The human brought a finger to his lips to silence his demon as soon as he started to open his mouth.

 

“Oh my  _ god _ . He’s alive.” The girl sighed like she had leaned back in relief. “Yeah, yeah, it’s him.” Bonney sounded like she was talking to someone else for a while. Law could hear a couple of relieved voices in the background. “Where are you? How are you?”

 

Law pulled his phone away from his ear and checked the time on the top right corner. It was only twenty minutes past four in the afternoon. His friends made it sound like he was gone for years. 

 

Luffy nudged closer, putting Law’s free arm around his small shoulders and sighed contentedly from where he lay.

 

“Why are you asking?” Law suddenly felt too conscious of his fingers on Luffy’s skin. “What the fuck is going on?”

 

“That’s  _ our _ line, you bastard!” Bonney yelled. Her voice would have been louder if she didn’t sound like she was chewing on something again. “We thought of having lunch with you but you weren’t responding to texts so we thought you were busy.” 

 

More chewing. Stress eating? 

 

“But then we saw Robin later and she said you went home because you were  _ sick _ !”

 

“Well—”

 

“And that you looked  _ traumatized _ !” 

 

“Traumati—”

 

Now  _ there _ was Robin’s weird sense of humor. Traumatized. Fuck, that was new. Law wasn’t even pissed. He had to get back at her sometime. It seemed “looked like she wanted to throw up but I could be wrong” was not going to be good enough the next time her engineer boyfriend asked him how she’s doing in the library.

 

“Are you  _ dying _ !?” Bonney asked amidst the sound of frantic chewing. 

 

Luffy lightly nuzzled Law’s neck and breathed in deeply, making Law feel like some sort of  _ drug _ . The boy hummed and placed a gentle kiss on Law’s tanned skin before looking up with round, happy, loving eyes at his human. His beautiful stare felt too heavy for some reason and Law looked away to focus on his phone call.

 

“Why would I be dying, Bonney?”

 

“Well, this is so unlike you!” She still sounded worried and disbelieving. There was a loud tapping sound. Law assumed Bonney must have hit something important judging by how Penguin groaned as their female friend continued talking. “Taking two days off in one week without notice. Going home from work too early. Not answering calls or texts. Who  _ are _ you!?” 

 

“Ask him what the fuck happened.” That was Shachi in the background.

 

“What the fuck happened!?” Bonney parroted loudly.

 

Was “I  _ urgently _ had to fuck Luffy” an acceptable answer? Would his friends understand? Should he even tell them? Law looked at the incubus next to him. His neck was covered in hickeys that Law was starting to question if  _ he _ was the one who put those all there. He’d always been discreet with his previous partners and never left an easily visible mark let alone leave a fuckton of it out in the open. Law wanted to touch Luffy’s neck and run his thumb across the bruises, but decided to pay attention to Bonney’s question instead.

 

“I wasn’t feeling so well.” Law shrugged, not that his friend could see him.

 

“He said he isn’t feeling so well.” Bonney mumbled.

 

“Well, fuck, is it bad?” That was Penguin sounding worried. “Should he see a doctor for it?”

 

What? Law wasn’t allowed to get sick now? It was nice how his friends were worried about his sudden change in demeanor, though. They might be idiots, but at least they were caring ones. And at least he knew they would be smart enough to detect an impostor. Like in the movies.

 

“I don’t need a doctor.” Law sighed, staring at the ceiling. “I’m fine. I just had to rest is all.”

 

“Does Luffy know?” Bonney’s question made Law’s eyes drift towards the small demon that was trying to occupy himself by poking his nose against Law’s shoulder. 

 

“Know what?” Law felt the ends of Luffy’s hair with his tattooed fingers. The incubus chuckled a bit and started hiding under the man’s arm.

 

“That you’re  _ sick _ .” Was Bonney’s flat reply.

 

“Oh.” Law wanted to groan and laugh. It was confusing. “Yeah. He knows.”

 

“And?” The word was almost lost in the sound of crunching food that came out like a monster’s growl from the phone’s low quality speaker. “Is he taking care of you properly?”

 

Well,  _ of course _ … was what Law wanted to say. Luffy knew firsthand  _ why _ Law hurried home in the first place. And he had been quite the willing little thing that wanted nothing but satisfy all of his human’s “afternoon cravings”. But that wasn’t to say that Luffy wasn’t feisty himself. Luffy was  _ on fire _ .

 

So with regards to “taking care”?  _ Everything _ had been and  _ will continue to be _ well taken care of.

 

Except he couldn’t tell Bonney that, of course, so he just went with a sigh and an irritated response of, “That’s none of your business.” 

 

The pink-haired woman at the other end of the line groaned like she had the right to complain. There was a sound of plastic being crumpled. Law could imagine Bonney frowning at the unrelenting packaging she was trying to fight to open. It was surprising how she didn’t even consider bringing scissors with her. 

 

“Give it here.” Went Shachi’s faint voice, to which Bonney responded with a low sound. 

 

“As your older sister,” The woman resumed talking like she was not challenged by whatever measly wrapper she was facing earlier. “It  _ is _ my business to see that my idiot baby brothers are taken care of.”

  
Law closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with two fingers. Luffy hummed questioningly before crawling up and poking his nose at Law’s cheeks. The man sighed and looked at the demon tilting his head, staring like a curious owl. It was nice that he hadn’t said or done anything annoying enough to interrupt the phone call. Maybe sex made Luffy a bit more considerate, eh? Law patted his demon on the head before turning his attention back to his conversation.

 

“If it shuts you up, my boyfriend’s taking care of me properly, Bonney.”

 

Luffy blinked twice and then chuckled before pecking a kiss on Law’s lips and whispering, “Of course, I am.”

 

_ ‘Course, you are _ . 

 

Law wanted to squeeze him in his arms.

 

“Is he there?” Bonney sounded like she was eating again. “Give him the phone. I want to talk to him.”

 

“Woman, first of all, you don’t order me around.” Law shifted as he felt Luffy’s elbow digging into his chest. “Second, what the fuck do you want with him?”

 

The boy blinked again and sat up before crawling over Law’s torso because god-knows-why. The man’s eyes widened, unsure how he was supposed to feel with how the naked body that he could fuck into oblivion any time was slithering against his skin. God  _ damn it _ . 

 

“To make sure you’re not giving him a hard time taking care of you.” Bonney said and Law furrowed his eyebrows. Seriously? If there was anyone who was giving Law a hard time here, it was  _ Luffy _ . Law was just an innocent human.

 

“Luffy,” Law mumbled and the demon made an acknowledging hum. Law waited and watched the demon settle next to him. “Tell Bonney I’m well taken care of.”

 

Law held the phone in front of Luffy, but didn’t bring it towards his ear. Letting Luffy hear the possible gibberish Bonney would be spouting was  _ not _ a good idea. The demon reached out for for the phone anyway, but Law pulled it away with a reprimanding look that Luffy didn’t seem to understand. The human brought the phone closer again. Luffy bit his lip for a while before leaning forward experimentally. He glanced at Law who nodded approvingly.

 

“Hi, Bonney!” Luffy’s voice was radiant, if that was even an adjective that could be used to describe anyone’s voice. “Law’s well taken care of! In fact, we’ve been enjoying the—Mmmf!”

 

Law’s large hand covered Luffy’s mouth just in time before anything stupid spilled out of it. 

 

“—at?” The man heard Bonney say as he brought the phone back to his ear.

 

“This is Law.” 

 

Luffy’s big round eyes blinked at him, but made no move to remove the fingers covering his mouth. Like he was waiting for Law to do  _ something _ .

 

“What did Luffy say?” Bonney asked followed by the sound of her drinking. “I didn’t catch the last part.”

 

“That he’s enjoying taking care of me.” Law mumbled, but was looking thoughtfully at his demon who was peering up quietly at him. What? Did he like his mouth being covered? Being silenced?

 

Gagged?

 

Law kept himself from swallowing hard as he felt Luffy’s lips move against his fingers. The demon’s dark orbs were pasted on Law, watching his reaction as the tip of the boy’s small tongue carefully slid out between his lips and licked the man’s skin. The fingers loosened a bit and he could feel Luffy smile against his palm as his teeth lightly nipped on Law’s middle finger, tongue grazing teasingly. Law pulled his hand away and leaned forward, pressing a kiss on the demon’s lips, to which Luffy responded with wide eyes and a muffled chuckle.

 

Bonney made a suspicious, contemplating sound. Law had already forgotten that he was in a conversation with her.

 

“Law.” She began seriously.

 

“Yeah?” Law replied, licking Luffy’s lips before pulling back as carefully and quietly as he could. The demon whimpered, red to his ears as he took Law’s hand to cover his own face. How could Luffy even be bashful about these things when he was obscenely screaming for Law’s cock earlier?

 

“I could be wrong but…” Bonney sighed, paused, and spoke again. “You’ve been fucking each other this afternoon, haven’t you?”

 

The vehement yells and groans in the background were the perfect cover up to Law’s moment of speechlessness.

 

“Oh my  _ god, _ Bonney!” Shachi complained so loudly that Law wouldn’t be surprised if he had grabbed the phone from their female friend. “We don’t need to know that!”

 

“Bonney, what the  _ fuck _ !?” Penguin said at the same time and Law could imagine his shoulders dropping in disbelief. 

 

“Ow!” Bonney yelped. One of the two had probably hit her with something, which Law mentally commended them for. The woman on the phone grunted, possibly hitting back as she spoke.  “What!? He’s not really doing a good job of hiding it, you know! Enjoying taking care?  _ Really _ ?”

 

Well, she wasn’t wrong, but Law wasn’t about to tell her that.

 

“You fucking  _ ass _ ,” Law could feel Luffy stir before sitting up next to him. “I’ve been tired and sick and you have the gall to tell me this shit.”

 

It was then that he noticed Luffy crawling on his lap to straddle him. Law blinked, making a face to warn him not to try anything. Luffy smiled widely and leaned forward, lightly brushing his lips against Law’s. The man felt conscious, but didn’t stop his hand from gently steadying Luffy by the waist. The boy’s hands were flat on Law’s tattooed chest to help balance himself. Law tilted the phone so that the speaker was slightly upward and away from his head.

 

“Listen here, you fucking perfectionist workaholic...” Bonney’s words slowly faded as Law pulled the phone significantly away from his ear. Luffy understood somehow and moved his open mouth over Law’s so the man’s tongue could dive in and taste him. The boy moaned softly as if being considerate of the phonecall Law was trying to have. 

 

Luffy pulled away. Law licked his lips and brought the phone back to his ear. The demon blushed furiously and buried his face in Law’s chest like the fifty thousand times he’d previously done. It was just a quick open-mouthed kiss, but something about it was so…  _ warm _ .

 

“—pent from all your boring wrongdoings.” Was what Law caught Bonney saying.

 

“Why aren’t you using loudspeaker?” Law decided to change the topic because arguing with Bonney was not productive once her brain had kicked into “aggressively caring mother” mode.

 

“My phone’s loudspeaker is broken, remember?” 

 

“Oh. Oh, yeah.” Law smiled. Luffy settled to lie on his stomach on top of Law, head on the man’s chest like he was listening to his heartbeat. “You were heartbroken, got yourself drunk, fell into the goddamn pond, and we had to—”

 

“Sure, Law. Whatever.” Bonney sounded like she was chewing again. Law wasn’t sure  _ why _ he was undecided if that irked him or not. “So you have a boyfriend and I don’t.” Law was about to say something when Bonney added, “ _ Anymore. _ Urgh.”

 

“You should date Drake.” Penguin was half-laughing. “I could set you up.”

 

“You should suck your own toes, you castrated fucking bird.” Bonney sounded like she had hit something, probably Penguin, but there was nothing but laughter in the background. The girl resumed conversing with Law. “Anyway, you owe us pizza, Law. For making us worry.”

 

Law frowned.

 

“Pizza has  _ bread _ , you asshole.”

 

“Well, it wouldn’t be punishment if you liked it, shitface, _ d-uh. _ ” Law could imagine Bonney waving her hand around while rolling her eyes away, “So that’s that. I need to hang up now. Calls are damn expensive. Lovelots!”

 

“Yeah.” Law nodded and pulled the phone away from his ear. The call ended. About two seconds later, there was a tongue swirling around his nipple. 

 

Law bit his lip.

 

Shit.

 

* * *

 

Careful was a word that people could use to describe Law. Thinking ahead and checking possible problems so he could cover all his bases was like second nature to him. Being with Luffy seemed to have successfully  _ shattered _ that.

 

The issue that Law might have overlooked when he decided to fuck his incubus once and for all was that it was so damn difficult to  _ stop _ . All they’d done since he got home was have sex, take a nap, wake up, and do it all again. And sure, that sounded amazing and  _ felt _ twice as astounding, undeniably, but it was also… alarming. 

 

Where was Law getting all this strength and how was it affecting his body? Was this going to have long term effects? What were the chances of acquiring demonic sexual diseases and was there a cure? Would Luffy ever be sated? Could a human being die from overorgasming? Had Law’s shame  _ left him _ ?

 

Luffy had screamed every chance he could. And he did so loudly. With  _ all that he had _ . And strangely, Law wasn’t able to bring himself to care about how that voice managed to sever his every logical thought. The neighbors seemed to be a distant concern, too. Like, what, they’ve never heard two people having sex before? Well, now they have.

 

Over and over, light had flashed before Law’s vision, behind closed eyelids, in his mind, and probably even in his ears. Yeah. Law could  _ hear _ his orgasm inside his head like pleasurable humming that made him never want to stop. Luffy had climaxed the same number of times, if not more—Law had not counted—clenching around him like it was the end of the world, panting more words that sounded like he was so fucking  _ thankful _ to have received Law’s come in his ass.

 

God damn  _ everything. _

 

But that was yesterday. Last night. Whatever. He had to get to university today. Not that he was running late, but he would be if he dilly-dallied. The continuously beeping alarm clock seemed to think so as well.

 

Despite that, Law just kept lying on his side with one arm lazily draped over Luffy’s torso. Their naked bodies were covered by a blanket only around their waists and thighs. Law’s head was on the single pillow—no pillowcase—on the bed, as all the other three had fallen on the floor with the rest of their clothes. Luffy’s head, on the other hand, was quietly resting on Law’s arm, which was as good as dead at the moment, but that paled in comparison to how the angry beeping next to them was marauding his ears.

 

“Damn it. I don’t want to get up.” Law groaned into Luffy’s hair and closed his eyes tighter as if that alone could will the alarm away.

 

“Make it shut up.” The demon nudged closer, curling so he could fit better against the curve of Law’s torso. “There isn’t even any sunlight yet.”

 

True. He had set the alarm for five in the morning.

 

“I need to get up.” Law sighed, but hooked his leg around Luffy’s and tugged him closer contrary to what he was saying. The boy hummed in appreciation. 

 

“I  _ need _ to get up. I have shit to do. Lots to do.”

 

Law was was trying to convince his entire body to start the day. It seemed to be a preposterous idea now that there was a small arm slowly making its way around his torso, fingers gently drumming against his back. Luffy was so warm and the bed was so comfy. Why would anyone want to leave this cozy spot in a disheveled sea of blankets and sheets?

 

“Does that include me?” the demon rubbed his face against Law’s chest.

 

“Luffy,” Law began and moved his head away so he could yawn, “Do you know how many orgasms we had yesterday?”

 

“No—aaahm!” Luffy yawned louder, but was drowned by the angry alarm. “Not enough?”

 

It was too early for Law to handle Luffy’s weird attempt to be both sassy and clever. The man’s arm that still had blood flow in it moved up so two fingers could pinch the shell of Luffy’s ear and tug it lightly.

 

“No, dumbass.  _ I lost count _ .”

 

Luffy ducked his head a bit, his shoulder pushing up as he giggled. Law hated how the continuous sound of anger from the alarm clock drowned Luffy’s laughter. His free hand moved back and slapped the thing to silence.

 

“Well, that just means I did a good job, right?” Luffy grinned.

 

“That  _ means _ …” Law pulled Luffy’s ear a bit harder, just enough to make him squeak, “If I get anymore this morning, I am probably going to  _ die _ .”

 

“Of pleasure, though.” The idiot giggled some more before diving into the man’s chest.

 

“I’m not kidding, asshole.” the man wanted to slap the back of Luffy’s head if only he wasn’t making that delighted face as he pressed his pudgy cheek against Law’s chest. “All we did was fuck.”

 

“And that is bad  _ why _ ?” Luffy finally looked up, his chin against Law’s chest as he smiled innocently. “Besides, you had dinner at… like…” Luffy bit his lower lip, eyes moving towards the ceiling to think before giving up, shrugging, and saying, “Some time…”

 

That “some time” was  _ nine in the evening _ . While Luffy was sleeping, Law quietly got dressed— _ Again _ , yes, why was he trying?—and went downstairs to get anything he could eat only to find a familiar plastic box on the kitchen table. Great. So the only thing Law ended up having aside from one orgasm after the other was his reheated supposed-to-be-lunch twelve hours after it was made. That was neither tasty nor nutritious enough. Law couldn’t even remember what the hell he’d put in that thing, but he ate it anyway despite being a horrible excuse for nourishment. 

 

“We had sex again after that.” Law thoughtfully recounted how Luffy just pounced on him as soon as he got back to the room. “Which practically burned out whatever I consumed.”

 

“So negative.” Luffy hummed, pushing himself up so he could kiss Law, but the man moved his head away.

 

“I said I’m—”

 

“You need to get up, are going to die, and are not kidding. I heard.” Luffy pushed himself up on his elbows and leaned closer towards Law, “I just want a kiss.”

 

“That’s where we  _ always _ start.” the man moved his head further away as he slowly tried to move the arm that Luffy had been lying on.

 

“Not really. There’s one round where I—”

 

“Luffy!” 

 

“Nose kiss, then.” Luffy held onto Law’s shoulder to keep the man from lying on his back. “Please?”

 

The man grunted and threw a warning glance at Luffy but said nothing. The little demon smiled, lifted his face closer, and rubbed their noses against each other.

 

“Good morning, Law.”

  
  


The theory that Law was going to die after one more orgasm officially became a busted  _ myth _ after they ended up having morning sex anyway. 

 

Luffy said he was going to feed a little and, yeah, he stayed true to drinking just a little blood but did he  _ really _ have to sit on Law’s dick while doing it? Seriously?

 

That was horrible morning sex, by the way, since half of Law’s focus was on pleasure while the other half was listing down his responsibilities for the day. If Luffy was going to ride him, he’d like to enjoy it, thank you very much because  _ hot damn _ , the way he threw his head back to show off his kiss-marked neck was abso-fuckling-lutely...  _ not  _ the main concern! The bottomline was that he had classes today and he had to get his ass moving in a more productive way than just snapping against—argh! No! Enough about sex!  _ Enough! _

 

Fucking hell, Law was so damn  _ lame _ . What happened? He should be able to resist this. Why didn’t he? Why  _ couldn’t _ he?

 

Thankfully, his brain still functioned enough to coordinate his limbs so he could walk down the stairs. God  _ damn _ , his thighs needed medicated plaster more than the giant hickeys on his neck. He felt like a rusty tin soldier trying to walk.

 

Law tossed his backpack onto the couch in the living room before he headed for the kitchen. He’d skip breakfast if he could because he still had to take care of the permit for his tattoos. If only he wasn’t so damn sex-driven yesterday! Oddly, he wasn’t as fatigued as he thought he’d be. Thank goodness Luffy only fed during the first round last night (and then this morning) or Law would have been hospitalized for severe anemia. Back to the main concern, though, skipping breakfast was not an option.

 

Dammit, Sanji drafted him a meal plan and he wasn’t even able to follow any of that at all. Law was a really organized person who followed schedule but who the fuck would have thought that preparing food for all three meals of the day—four including snacks because Sanji included that—would be so  _ tedious _ !? Figuring out that he was going to have cereal and fruit this morning wasn’t the kind of thoughts he used to have in the shower.

 

The cold air of the refrigerator hit Law right in the face, but he didn’t mind. He cared more about finding the milk, which was missing from its place at the door shelf where Law had left it. His eyebrows furrowed, annoyed that something wasn’t where it was supposed to be.

 

“Say ahh!” That was Luffy’s voice coming from the side opposite the door.

 

Law turned his head and was mildly surprised to find Luffy holding a giant bowl of cereal as he brought a dripping spoonful towards Law’s mouth.

 

“The god damn  _ milk _ , Luffy!” Law looked at the white droplets falling on the floor.

 

“Then say  _ ahh _ !” 

 

And that left Law no choice but to open his mouth and let his demon feed him a mouthful of soggy cereal. Glancing into the bowl, Law realized it was practically a sea of milk almost to the brim and heaps of mushy breakfast food.

 

“See? Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Luffy looked at the bowl of cereal he was holding and rewarded himself with two spoonfuls into his mouth. “I’m not about to let you take off with just nectar again.”

 

“Luffy, it’s called a  _ smoothie. _ ” Law closed the refrigerator door and headed for the kitchen counter to get a spoon for himself but Luffy’s fingers pulled him by the elbow towards the table.

 

“Where are you going?” The demon stomped and Law’s eyes wandered down to the small splashes of milk hitting the floor. He’d have to mop that in a bit. Fucking hell. “I made this god damn cereal for us, Law. And you _ will _ eat this with me or we’re having sex in the kitchen. Take your pick.”

 

Talk about weird threats. 

 

“I was just going to get a spoon.” Law pulled out a chair, which his demon sat on without further ado. The man sighed and pulled out a chair for himself as Luffy lifted another spoonful towards him.    
  


“Mouth. Open.” Luffy nodded bossily at him, “Come on.”

 

Law felt the need to argue that his demon had the cereal-to-milk ratio wrong; that what he had was garbage and not breakfast; that it had the most horrible texture that any breakfast cereal on the planet could ever have. 

 

But he didn’t say anything because Luffy made this for his ungrateful ass.

 

So Law found himself moving his head towards the spoon as he sat down, noting how Luffy’s lower lip was sticking out as he watched Law’s mouth open and close. The boy’s forehead was crinkling, the side of his mouth twitching, and one of his eyes squinting. Law felt the need to run his hand over his face for the heck of it but Luffy immediately reverted to normal as he dipped the spoon back with a small milky splash into the bowl. 

 

Oh, and was it bothersome that Luffy was able to consume three immediate spoonfuls of cereal while the human had not even forced down the sogginess in his mouth? Luffy didn’t even need food and Law fed him properly yesterday. Why did he eat like he was famished all the time? God, demons were so damn weird.

 

Law chewed on what he tried to convince himself was “cereal” and not a portion of a murky swamp. Forcing this down was going to be a task and he was thankful that Luffy had already brought out a pitcher of water and a glass half-full. It was just puzzling how the simple act of water pouring was carried out considering the significant water spills on the table. Negligible, though. Water evaporated anyway, Law told himself as he brought down the glass from his lips.

 

Luffy was still stuffing his mouth with murky cereal.

 

“I’m getting a spoon for myself.” Law motioned to get up but a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and pushed him back down on the chair. The man began to protest but Luffy shoved the spoon he was holding into his human’s mouth and walked off to get one for himself instead. 

 

“Focus on getting sustenance.” The demon said casually.

 

The feeling of how stainless steel clashed against teeth was annoying to Law, but he decided to say nothing about it in favor of pulling the cereal bowl carefully towards him. The milk swished a little, threatening to spill.

 

“You want a banana or something?” Luffy mumbled from the counter. Law was mindful enough to decline because he god damn knew what bananas looked like and how Luffy’s perverted mind would make the most inappropriate connection.

 

“No, I’m good.” Tattooed fingers reached for the milk carton and shook it, earning a hollow noise from what’s left of the milk sloshing poorly inside the box. Nearby was the discarded emptied plastic cereal box container with its lid left open. It looked like it was crying from being raided without mercy. Law sighed as he put the milk carton back on the surface.

 

“I thought you wanted fruit. Guess I was wrong.” Luffy shrugged and headed back to the table. “We should stock on strawberries, though.”

 

Law wanted to ask what for, but Luffy rarely had good reasons for things so the man just kept shoving spoonful after spoonful of murky, swampy cereal so he could get going.

 

“Strawberries are sexy.” Luffy said and helped himself.

 

See? Not a good reason at all. Law wanted to sigh heavily as he squashed his soggy breakfast with his spoon, still unable to comment on how he could barely force it down his throat. Luffy, on the other hand, kept on digging through the edible blobs of what was supposed to be their breakfast. It was too icky. Law couldn’t stand it, but he couldn’t tell Luffy either. 

 

“I’m getting an apple.” the man stood up and Luffy made a small noise that Law interpreted as “Okay.” 

 

The refrigerator’s fruit compartment did seem empty. Law made a mental note to buy a few more on his next trip to the grocery. Maybe strawberries wouldn’t hurt, he mused, as he picked up one apple and closed the refrigerator door. Were those even in season, though? Keeping tabs on whatever fruit was available wasn’t his thing. Law just worked with whatever was on sale when he went grocery shopping.

 

Law washed his breakfast in running water and sliced it in four before heading back to the kitchen table. 

 

“Thought you were making nectar again.” Luffy was talking with his mouth full, droplets of milk and pulpy morsels of cereal around his lips. 

 

“It’s  _ not _ —” Law shook his head and just rolled his eyes away before grabbing a paper towel just within his reach. He contemplated on letting Luffy wipe the bits off his face, but realized the idiot was just going to smear everything around like a horrific disaster. And Law hated it when things were done so terrifyingly wrong in front of him.

 

“I can’t make a smoothie right now even if I wanted to.” Law’s fingers held Luffy by the chin and turned his head so he was facing Law. The demon was startled by that obviously, but the human paid him no mind and proceeded to carefully wipe the bits and drops around his lips. “You used up all the milk for your demon cereal soup.” 

 

“O-oh.” Was Luffy’s only response, not looking like he was listening to Law at all. His shimmering round eyes gawked at his human like he could not believe that this majestic creature was touching him. The boy had stopped chewing in his awe, one of his cheeks still having food in it, which Law chose not to comment on. He was too busy trying not to be conscious despite the heat that was crawling up his face. Luffy had dropped the spoon into the bowl in his state of admiration, slightly leaning into the hand dabbing around his lips.

 

In all stories that Law had read, humans had only ever looked at demons with dread and disdain. And humans, on the other hand, were frail little creatures who got tempted and played around with by these dark, evil enmities. 

 

How  _ wrong _ .

 

Here was Luffy, looking up at Law like the human was some sort of blessing that he could not be thankful enough for. And truth be told, Law’s never been looked at like this before, making him wonder what those demon eyes saw. Maybe Luffy had a vision different than Law’s. Or maybe his perception was off by an alarmingly significant margin because there was nothing  _ nice _ about Law at all. Well, maybe his face. His body. Physical stuff, whatever. But Luffy’s eyes pierced through all that. Law often wondered if Luffy could stare right into his soul. 

 

Could he see anything horrific that appealed to him as a creature of darkness? Because why? Why would Luffy only have eyes for Law?  _ Why? _

 

Was there anything about Law that his demon considered amazingly attractive? 

 

Mana, maybe.

 

Luffy swallowed his food.

 

By the time Law had finished cleaning up around Luffy’s chin, the boy was leaning up too expectantly—eyes almost glimmering, mouth slightly open, and cheeks flushed pink. And that was just too damn cute for Law’s, no, for  _ anyone’s _ own good that he couldn’t even stop himself from bending over and giving Luffy a light and careful kiss. It was nothing more than a brush of the lips, but Luffy, with calm breath and closed eyes, hummed ever so softly and Law… almost didn’t want to leave.

 

Stay home? For what? To fuck again and again?

 

No. That wasn’t it. There was not a drop of lust in Law’s veins as he leaned over again to press a lingering kiss on Luffy’s lips. There was no raging monster that Law was trying to subdue as he fathomed a taste of milk and a hint of sweetness that Law wasn’t sure how he figured to be so distinctly  _ Luffy _ . There wasn’t even a need for him to push his tongue into the boy’s mouth to taste him, claim him, conquer him. 

 

All he wanted was to  _ be here _ , whatever that meant.

 

Law’s heart started hammering against his chest as Luffy’s slender fingers started curling on the edge of his shirt. His demon was too scared to disturb what was going on right now; like he was stopping himself from asking Law not to leave.

 

If he did, would Law cave in? 

 

No, he was too responsible for that, maybe, even as he wanted to take those fingers in his own and squeeze them and tell him not to worry. Law will be back. He’ll be home. And they could snuggle with each other on the couch as they watched TV or whatever. There was no need for worry.

 

Perhaps Law could take him to university today? Was there a way? Ah, again, no. He had no time to get Luffy ready—get him to shower, pick out his clothes, comb his hair, tie his shoelaces, and make sure everything was right. And he had no excuse to take Luffy with him. He had classes to attend and responsibilities to take care of. It would be much too distracting to have Luffy within his reach no matter how much he wanted to keep him close.

 

Wait, what was that?

 

Law  _ wanted _ to keep Luffy close.

 

There was no way to run anymore after that last thought. Law had to admit that he wasn’t the same person he was three days ago. Something was wrong with him.

 

The man pulled away gently, strangely calm although distracted by the thoughts that he had temporarily kicked towards the back of his head. Luffy tried to muffle a short whimper by keeping his lips closed tightly, but that just made Law kiss him again—lightly, quickly,  _ chastely _ —just a small reassurance that he was still here. Luffy breathed in softly.

 

_ Thank you _ . 

 

Whose voice was that? Luffy’s? Or Law’s own?

 

_ I love you. _

 

“We really need to talk.” Law’s mind was floating when those whispered words came out.

 

“Will you be gone long?” Luffy said lowly, eyes focused on his beloved human like he feared forgetting his face once he left. And Law almost wanted to ask him if he could shrink enough to fit in Law’s backpack.

 

See? He was becoming silly. How many things could go wrong in the short span of three days?

  
“I’ll come home as soon as I can.” Law pressed a kiss on Luffy’s forehead, “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TCCIC - Take care ‘coz I care. Because we need to appreciate how Cora-san tries to stay hip and youthful. 
> 
> I’m sorry if I haven’t updated for two weeks. Trafalgar Law week happened and then life happened.


	17. Saying Magic Words

Everyone who knew Luffy considered him to be spontaneous. And in all honesty, he was. He was never good with planning or preparing for what was to come. But they say love turned even the greatest men into mud pie. And he loved Law.  _ Love _ . Like  _ really _ . It was the only possible culprit that could have urged Luffy to have an actual  _ plan _ for today—to properly claim and establish territory.

 

Actually, that was supposed to be the plan for  _ yesterday _ but Luffy found it difficult to be productive while being in painful need of Law’s cock pounding his ass. But now that he had been sated to an extent (He’d never get enough of Law, seriously), Luffy’s brain could finally pay attention to actually establishing  _ some _ claim on Law’s house.

 

Territories were mostly for security purposes. For instance, if one demon came under attack within his territory, the attacker would only have access to half of his power because the region would forcibly shackle the other half. This mana lock could only be lifted once the attacker left the territory or if the owner of the area removed the lock himself by granting entry. Depending on the skill of the territory’s owner, the mana shackle can also be re-applied at will.

 

So Luffy’s humiliatingly one-sided fight with Ace? Well, his brother had only  _ half _ of his power.  _ Half _ . And Sabo? Sabo had a hundred percent access to his energy because he had the mind to ask permission to enter from Law. That was why it was all too easy for him to kill Ace’s flames. And Luffy? Well, Luffy was a fucking  _ wuss _ . So god damn embarrassing. Law probably thought he was some sort of lame weasel. How in the shit was he ever going to redeem himself? 

 

Well, in his defense, the fight wouldn’t have been so god damn  _ unfair _ if Luffy wasn’t so low on mana that night. Sure, Law had been feeding him—his brothers had interrupted possible glorious sex that night, too, damn them—but what Luffy had been getting was nowhere close to what he was used to. Not even close to  _ half _ . Before the bond, Luffy could  _ splurge _ on mana consumption because he could simply get more if he needed to. There was no problem sating his appetite because there was an abundance of humans to hunt.

 

But now, he had to treat every drop of essence as wisely as he could, which he was  _ terrible _ at. He had to consider his human’s health and mood because if he didn’t, his mouth would always be on Law’s neck and his dick in Law’s ass. At the same time. And that would most likely kill his boyfriend. So, no, not a good idea.

 

Zoro used to be in the same mana deficient boat when he bonded with Sanji and it took him  _ years _ to stock up enough reserve to make him feel as invigorated as the free demon he used to be. Ah, Luffy could remember how Zoro felt like a fucking weakling to him. That time, Luffy couldn’t understand why his green-haired friend preferred shitty frailty over freedom and strength. Now, he did.

 

But it wasn’t like Luffy was still starving now anyway. Since his first feeding, the demon had managed to keep some mana in reserve. It was also a good thing that the quality of Law’s life essence was far more excellent than anything Luffy’s ever had. It also improved with every passing day. Luffy had enough to do basic things like render himself invisible. Still, though, it wasn’t enough fuel for a fight against someone as strong as Ace—not that night and not even now. And that was why Luffy was hell-bent on doing  _ something _ with Law’s territory. He was not going to suffer another humiliating loss under their own jurisdiction, damn it.

 

Luffy stretched and ran down the stairs. It had been a while since he claimed territory with his brothers and this would be the first time he would work on an area alone.

 

Claiming territory wasn’t really difficult. It was something  _ all _ creatures did. Even humans did it subconsciously to make themselves feel safe and comfortable in their own homes and spaces. It was all about letting other creatures know that this place was someone else’s. And how was that done? By spreading mana trace everywhere to mark said space. 

 

Normal humans did it by being in the same place long enough for their life essence to mark the atmosphere. Warlocks were far more clever. Aside from claiming territory, mana manipulation allowed them to create traps within their claimed space. It ranged from demon snares to one-shot killing blasts out of nowhere. The practices they used were supposedly as numerous as the stars. This was why “you don’t fuck around with warlocks”, as Sabo put it.

 

Although not as detailed as the warlocks, demons, on the other hand, also had a lot of methods of claiming territory. One of the easiest ways was to mark the jurisdiction with their own blood. That was how he and his brothers once claimed an abandoned house in Punk Hazard and an abandoned ruined mansion somewhere in Dressrosa. There were three of them so there was enough mana to go around two territories. But now Luffy wasn’t even sure if he still had his share on either of those. Dammit. Even his friends had more spaces than he did.

 

Over the years, Zoro had amassed two territories of his own. One was his and Sanji’s apartment where he trained. The other was The Spirale where Zoro worked and where Nami lived on the second floor. Nami fed the cafe space a good supply of mana in exchange for being under Zoro’s protection. But that didn’t mean Nami didn’t own anything. In fact, hers was particularly clever. She had claim to a wide network of  _ humans _ . 

 

Nami harvested mana from her victims in their sleep. Most succubi hung around nightclubs, bars, discos, and other similar locations because that was the easiest way to find unsuspecting prey. While Nami did try that approach at some point, she eventually got tired of it because she wasn’t the competitive type. It also pissed her off that the place had a lot of people who pretended they had money but didn’t (“It’s lying and it should be a crime and these fucking dishonest asses should go to jail.”). And so she developed a method of her own. Money did wonders for Nami.

 

Simply by touching, the ginger-haired succubus could plant mana leech seeds on any human of her choice. All of those seeds were connected via a large network that looked like a giant orange tree in her room. The mana seed planted in the human would grow and would feed them erotic dreams of being with Nami, of course. The more they desired for her, the more mana the seed consumed and the faster it grew. Once the seed had ripened, it would take the form of an orange in Nami’s tree from where she would finally harvest it. She then had the option to consume it one last time or use it to support Zoro’s territory. After being harvested, Nami had to plant another seed into the victim if she wanted to feed on the same human again. 

 

The drawback of this method was that it was very reliant on the mana tree. If the tree died for any reason, Nami would lose her main mana source and she would have to nurture a new sapling. She would then be forced to hunt for victims like other succubi while waiting for her tree to sprout anew. And since Nami wasn’t a fighting kind—most succubi and incubi weren’t—it was crucial that the tree was under a stronger demon’s protection to fend away attackers. 

 

Zoro was fine with this set up. Almost a hundred percent of the time, Nami’s methods prompted the victim to come back to The Spirale where they could find her, which, in turn, was good for Sanji’s business. And if Sanji was happy, Zoro was happy, which made their arrangement a win-win situation. Or was that win-win-win? Nevermind. 

 

Unlike Zoro, Luffy was snared as a familiar. He was not on equal terms with Law. Because of that, he was not allowed to claim Law’s house as his own territory. He could, however, move freely within it and come and go as he pleased because Law’s mana flowed in him. The territorial atmosphere considered Luffy “welcome”.

 

Now Law had lived in the house long enough to claim it as his own mana-wise. However, Luffy felt like he needed to bolster it some more. Since Law wasn’t capable of manipulating mana, the faithful incubus had taken it upon himself to figure out where the thin parts were so he could strengthen it with his own blood. It was his duty to protect his master-host-boyfriend-most-beautiful-human-on-the-face-of-the-planet after all.

 

Armed with his newfound sense of responsibility, Luffy walked around the house to have a feel of the area he had to work with. Much to his surprise, despite Law’s inability to manipulate mana at will, his jurisdiction seemed to have no holes at all. His mana was, in fact, evenly spread across the place. Sure, the veil was  _ thin _ but it was also  _ consistent _ . Just how naturally meticulous was Law to be able to  _ subconsciously  _ disperse mana so  _ evenly _ ? 

 

Maybe Luffy could have the whole inside of the house as a stronger sub-territory instead? Put his blood in the proper corners? Uh. Which corners were those again?

  
_ Ding-dong! _

 

The chiming doorbell made Luffy hiss and bare his fangs in surprise. 

 

_ Ding-dong _ !

 

Who could that be? 

 

Luffy made his way to the front door. Outside, he could hear a faint voice, probably female, a bit pitchy and annoyed. Her aura felt familiar to Luffy although the only thing he knew about her was that she was human.

 

“—can next time!” Was the first thing he heard as soon as he swung the door open. He really wasn’t sure who he was expecting and found himself blinking dumbly at a curly-haired girl who was frowning, looking away, finger still on the doorbell as her other hand held a phone to her ear. 

 

Oh, wait. Luffy knew her. What was her name again? The girl that visited with Cora-san?

 

At the same time, way over at Corrida University, Law was impatiently standing outside the lecture room after having asked to be briefly excused from class to “take an important call”. Not really. It was just about the garden he couldn’t take care of himself, the garden that his uncles—and him, yes, and Baby Five, too—couldn’t let die.

 

“I already said sorry, okay?” He grunted at his cousin over the phone, trying not to look so pissed in the hallway. “I wasn’t able to text you back yesterday because I was...  _ busy. _ ”

 

Busy having sex with Luffy. God damn.

 

Wait, no. Focus on the main concern at hand. The garden. 

 

Baby Five’s weekly garden check all started with one of Cora-san’s visits when he saw some of the plants  _ dying. _ Or almost. Were they dead if they were yellowish? There weren’t really a lot of them looking like that, but his uncle became so fucking  _ upset _ . He threw a big fit and pink uncle Doffy had to personally give Law a stern talking about not messing with his sickly uncle ever again. Fucking hell. 

 

It wasn’t that Law didn’t want to take care of the garden. Of course, he did. He had inherited the house along with the garden so, yes, it meant something to him, too. But was it his fault that he was so bad at gardening? He’d planned to have a big part of it cemented or whatever and upon learning that, Cora-san was, again,  _ not pleased _ . Of course, pink feathered uncle Doffy wasn’t either. _ Again. _

 

“Just do as you are told, Law.” Said his uncle. “Roci doesn’t ask much from you. Would it kill you to just fucking do as he says?”

 

Why couldn’t they understand that working with human and animal bodies wasn’t the same as working with plants!? And this was  _ his house _ , god damn it!

 

Since Law couldn’t really ensure that he could take care of the plants, he considered hiring a gardener. But then again, he had qualms letting strangers in his house. Thankfully, Baby Five volunteered to visit a day per week in an attempt to keep the garden  _ alive _ . Since she had rather irregular duties, her visiting schedule was just as irregular. But, hey, she was doing it for free so Law shouldn’t be complaining.

 

“Well? Is he there yet?” The man’s impatience was growing with every passing second. Who knew what the fuck he was already missing from his lecture?

 

“Yes, yes, he’s answered the door already.” Baby Five sighed heavily, rolling her eyes away as Law kept on saying something. When her eyes properly landed on Luffy enough to study him, she blinked once, twice, and then her eyes widened so much, they might as well fall out of their sockets. “My  _ goodness _ , Law, your boyfriend’s  _ neck _ is—Why don’t you—What?! No!  _ You _ talk to him!”

 

The girl—Luffy still struggled with remembering her name—handed the phone to her cousin’s boyfriend who made a face, but said nothing and took the phone nonetheless.

 

“Uh?” Luffy meant to say “Hello”.

 

“Luffy?”

 

The man’s voice was music.

 

“Laaaaaaaw!” Luffy jumped up and down as he ran into the house, throwing himself on the distorted sofa and leaving Baby Five standing in front of the open door. “I miss yooooooooouuuu! How are you, cherrycakes!?”

 

“I’m fine.” Law sighed, but didn’t sound annoyed. “Listen. I don’t have much time. I need to get back to class as soon as I can.”

 

The demon made a low sound of protest. Meanwhile, Law’s cousin had let herself in and closed the door. It was nice that she had the mind to take off her shoes and wear proper indoor slippers before heading to the kitchen.

 

“Luffy,” Law began, a bit worried about leaving his demon and his cousin together without proper supervision. “I need you to behave and help out Baby Five for me if you can, okay?”

 

Luffy wanted to ask “Help out with what?” But Law had said “for me” and that was it. The man could’ve been talking about helping his cousin burn down cities to take over the world and Luffy still wouldn’t say “no”.

 

“Okay. Sure, sunshine.” 

 

“You promise?” 

 

“Promise.”

 

“Good.”

 

Law sounded like he was smiling. The thing about phone calls that Luffy didn’t like was that he had to  _ imagine _ Law’s face. And he was bad at that. It was worse when he realized that he didn’t have enough memories of Law smiling. Just smiling… genuinely? Nicely? Calmly? What was it called? Not smirking arrogantly or sarcastically or whatever. Just smiling… with feelings? Soft feelings?

 

The demon sighed and stared at the ceiling for a bit. This was quickly becoming a shorter phone conversation than they had when he was at Sanji’s. Maybe it was like that when Luffy didn’t own the phone?

 

“So if that’s settled, I need to go back to class now.” 

 

_ Wait. No. Don’t go yet. _

 

“Um, Law…?”

 

There was something, no, there were  _ words _ stuck in Luffy’s throat.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I just…” Luffy rolled to his side. “I…”

 

_ Say it _ , he told himself.  _ Say it. _ They had a fuckton of sex last night with all the “mine” and “yours” going on. Surely, Law had meant at least  _ some  _ of it? Why would it be wrong or unexpected to express any feelings  _ now _ ?

 

“What is it?” Law asked again and Luffy wanted to think his human boyfriend was urging him on. “You there?”

  
The demon swallowed hard.

 

“Yes… I…” Luffy closed his eyes and whispered. “I love you.”

 

There was a bit of silence. Some lip-biting care of Luffy. And then nail-biting from Luffy still. He was expecting a click just like last time but the only thing he heard for a second or two was Law’s breathing. Had he said the words too softly? Maybe his human didn’t hear?

 

“Y-yeah.” Law felt like the most awkward motherfucker in the entire universe. “Yeah, um...”

 

_ Just say you like him back, idiot _ .

 

As if it were that easy. 

 

What was he doing? He  _ was _ kind of expecting Luffy to say “I love you”. Why was  _ sweating nervously _ his only reply at the moment?

 

“Yeah.” Law said again. Lamely. Some heavenly power should strike him with a lightning bolt for the sin of saying the same fucking useless word three times in a row.

 

And then Luffy couldn’t take it anymore—the awkwardness, the anticipation, the idea that Law might just go “click” even after Luffy had waited for a proper response this time. His heart was deafening his  _ brain _ , if that made sense—no, it  _ did _ make sense. His  _ lungs _ knew that made sense because it was starting to become difficult to breathe and his face started to burn like his head was going to explode. Nope. Couldn’t take it anymore. 

 

Luffy hurriedly put the phone facedown on the center table before burying his face in one of the throw pillows in embarrassment, not catching the last two words that Law mumbled.

 

“Me, too.”

 

Having said even just two words felt like too much for Law to handle. The loud beating of his heart was echoing from his rib cage all the way to his skull. He quickly and impulsively pulled the phone away from his ear, ended the call, and hurried back to his class as he ran a heavy hand across his bright red face. 

 

“This relationship is going to kill me.”

* * *

 

Luffy could remember his first few conversations with Baby Five when she arrived with Cora-san the first time. It constituted of how Law’s tattoos were none of anyone’s business and how  _ not _ to cook bacon and eggs. Who would have expected that the next time they spent together would be in Law’s back garden where they sang along with the MP3 player Baby Five had brought along?

 

“I don’t wanna clooooooooooooooooooose mah-eeeeeeeeeyes!!!!! Hadowanna faaaaaaaaaaaall asleeeeeeeep cuz-ah-miss you baaaybeh and hadowannamiss-uh-thiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeng…!”

 

There was a point in Luffy’s life when he spent too much time with Nami prowling a particular part of the city that catered to a variety of music and songs that eventually and subconsciously buried themselves in Luffy’s brain. This was a fact that he only found out  _ now _ . He didn’t really know the words precisely. In fact,Luffy just sang them as how he heard them while trying to be in tune and failing hard, of course. But who cared? Singing was  _ fun _ .

 

“Coz even when I dreeeeeeeaaaaam of yoooooou-hooowoooooh, the sweetest dream would neeeeeeaaaaaaaaavar dooooo, I’d still miss you baaaaaaaaaybeh and hadoooooowannamiss-uh-thiiiiiiiieeeeeeng…!”

 

This was more entertaining than the television had ever been the previous days. Almost all the songs that Luffy knew in Baby Five’s playlist reminded him of Law, their life, his human’s little quirks, Luffy’s life before Law, and his possible misery should he lose the man at any point in the future among other things. He had shamelessly broken down in tears when “Til-now-I-always-got-by-on-my-own-I-never-really-cared-until-I-met-you” came on. He didn’t know the singer and the song gave his lungs a fucking beating but that didn’t stop him from  _ relating _ to every word before crumbling in a teary, sobbing mess (“I need my Law! I want him to come home and  _ love me _ !”). Baby Five had to get him water after that.

 

But then “I-knew-I-loved-you-before-I-met-you-I-think-I-dreamed-you-here-tonight” was right up next and Luffy just... just…  _ Argh _ .

  
“You  _ really _ got into that.” Baby Five watched him drink another tall glass of water in the kitchen after his attempt to belt out another song. She had opted to turn off the MP3 player after that and Luffy thought that was a good idea because he was starting to function wrong.

 

“How could I not be?” Luffy gently put the glass down on the kitchen counter. “Everything reminds me of him.”

 

“It’s not even been half a day yet” She was half-laughing as she motioned to pour another glass for him. Luffy shook his head and she put the pitcher down.

 

“If you were me and Law was your boyfriend and he was away for more than five minutes, you’d cry, too.” 

 

“Luffy, it’s not like you broke up.” Baby Five poured a glass of water for herself. “He’s coming home in the afternoon.”

 

“I  _ know _ !” The demon complained, his forehead meeting the surface of the counter as he groaned. “But  _ still _ !” 

 

“Okay, tell you what? I’ll make you a couple of sandwiches—”

 

“We don’t have bread.”

 

“Oh. Right. Law’s house.” Baby Five clicked her tongue and sighed. “I’ll make you… um…  _ something _ to eat. Like comfort food. So I can work in the garden while you—”

 

“I’ll help in the garden.” Luffy quickly lifted his head to look at Baby Five. “I need to help you. I promised him.”

 

“It’s fine.” She put the pitcher of water back into the refrigerator. “I’ll just tell him you helped out.”

 

“ _ No _ .” Luffy frowned. “I  _ will _ help out. I  _ will _ . I promised.”

 

“Fine.” Baby Five closed the refrigerator door and took the glasses so she could wash them. “But we should turn off the MP3 player now.”   
  


Luffy nodded. He’d had enough emotions for the day and, yes, he’d still like to eat to make the crumbs of his feelings go down.

 

“Could you still make me something?”

 

“I guess.” Baby Five put the glasses on the drying rack near by. “What do you usually have when you’re wallowing in tears?”

 

Luffy paused to think. What did he have when he was emotional? Recently?  _ Law _ . The gorgeous human was the only thing Luffy needed to make things right. Whenever he was anxious, confused or upset, all he had to do was rub his nose against Law’s skin and he’d feel better.

 

“Whatever Law makes for me.” The demon said simply before his thoughts ventured into overly emotional territory.

 

“Well, he isn’t here so I’ll just make for you whatever I used to make for him.” Baby Five started opening cupboards and checking out what Law had in stock. She knew her cousin didn’t like people going through any of his belongings, food included, so she was thinking of just using whatever had already been opened. 

 

“You used to make food for Law?” Luffy asked. 

 

“Yeah.” Baby Five nodded, closing the cupboard doors to go to the refrigerator and see what it had in store for her. “He was such a picky eater who hated lunch. The adults didn’t know what to do with him.”

 

He still was, Luffy wanted to tell her. That’s the main reason why he kept coming back to The Spirale. Sanji was meticulous with food and had no qualms making special changes for returning customers.

 

“How’d  _ you _ know what to do with him?” Luffy followed her movements with his eyes. Law  _ hating _ lunch was some news to him. The man even made some for himself to bring to work but then again, that was because Sanji said he needed it if he didn’t want to suffer from feeding Luffy.

 

“It’s thanks to some silly logic, honestly.” Baby Five bent down and started checking the plastic containers, turning them from one side to the other in an attempt to figure what was inside. “I figured he likes polar bears and fluff. The closest kind of food that I could think of was rice balls. So I made that for him.” 

 

The girl opened the freezer door, took two seconds to look at it, and closed it again before turning back to Luffy.

 

“And that’s what I’m going to make for you now. If you’re fine with it, of course?”

 

“Sure.” Luffy shrugged, “I mean, he  _ did _ like the rice balls when you made them, right?”

 

“Well, he thought it was fun that he didn’t know what he’d get inside.” Baby Five laughed and waved a finger at him. She head towards the rice cooker so she could take out its pot. “I soon found out that his favorite was the one with fish and he was fine until he got to the pickled plum. He fucking  _ hated it _ .” 

 

Luffy chuckled, trying to remember what pickled plum tasted like exactly. It probably wasn’t that good or that awful if Luffy didn’t have an opinion about it. That or he hadn’t tasted it yet.

 

“So Law made me swear never to feed him pickled plum ever again.” Baby Five smiled as she started to measure a cup or two of rice into the pot. “Cousin’s  _ oath _ , he called it.”

 

“And he ate lunch from then on?” Luffy leaned forward, a bit distracted by the sound of the grains.

 

“Not really.” She put the closed the lid on the rice container and put it back into the cupboard overhead. “He remained stubborn about not liking lunch. But at least he had a last resort during bad days when he  _ had _ to eat more because he was getting more fainting episodes.”

 

Getting more what?

 

“Fainting… Episodes...?” Luffy raised an eyebrow, a bit unsure if he heard the words right. Baby Five stopped what she was doing so she could look at him as if to gauge if he was serious. Luffy made a face, shrugging a bit, mouth opening to say something without being sure what he wanted to say exactly.

 

“Oh, I  _ swear _ .” Baby Five sighed heavily and clicked her tongue. “He didn’t tell you yet?”

 

“About what?” Luffy tilted his head, following Baby Five with his eyes as she headed towards the sink and started washing the rice. 

 

“Ask him.” She replied amidst the sound of running water from the faucet.

 

“Tell me.” Luffy tapped the table twice. She already mentioned the fainting issue so there was no point withholding other details from him now. It was pointless. But the girl didn’t answer and instead started to carefully drain the water out of the pot.

 

“Baby Five!” He tapped the table again.

 

“Some other time, maybe.” She answered, not even lifting her head to look at him. “We still have to work on the garden and—” 

 

“Fuck the garden.” Luffy crossed his arms over his chest. “I care about this more.”

 

“Ohhh, no.” She waved a finger at him, clicking her tongue again as she shook her head. “Don’t let him hear you talking about his mother’s garden like that.”

 

“His mother’s garden?” The demon tilted his head curiously, wondering to himself if Law had ever mentioned that. No, he hadn’t. Luffy would have remembered. “I thought this was Law’s house.”

 

“It is.” Baby Five was now measuring cups of water into the pot with rice before wiping the sides with a dry cloth and popping it into the rice cooker. “But before that, this was his mother’s house.”

 

“Where does she live now?”

 

“He didn’t tell you that, too?”

 

Luffy shook his head and waited for Baby Five to finish wiping her hands on a towel hanging near the sink. She looked at Luffy for a while, clicked her tongue again—she kept on doing that, what the hell—and started towards one of the cupboards.

 

“His mother’s dead.” Law’s cousin said lowly as she stared at the open cupboard that kept the canned food. “Both his parents are dead.”

 

Dead? Both of them? Didn’t human babies need parents to survive? And Law didn’t have them? It must have been sad and difficult.

 

But, of course, Luffy wouldn’t know how that was because the story of his life was much simpler. He never had parents. He just woke up one day knowing only his name and what he was. Ace and Sabo found him. After fighting some other shit demons together for territory, they became brothers. And then he met Zoro and then Nami. Both of them taught him many things about being an incubus in general that would’ve taken him a while to figure out on his own. And then they met Crocus who taught them more about humans and the world. And then Crocus met the werewolf that ate him. Zoro met Sanji. The Spirale was established. And that’s where Luffy found Law.

 

“So Cora-san…” Luffy began, half his mind still running across what his life had been so far before Law. “Cora-san took care of Law after he lost his parents?”

 

“Yes. Cora-san and Law’s mother were very close cousins. Like siblings.” the girl said, glancing at him between words as she opened a can of tuna flakes. “Most of the plants in the garden belonged to Aunt Lea but some of them were from Cora-san, too.”

 

“Oh…” Luffy said again, thinking back to when Law had lashed out at him when he started asking about family. “I didn’t know. He never really liked talking about his family when I asked.”

 

The only thing Law had ever told Luffy about was what he was supposed to do and  _ not _ supposed to do. That and immediate facts and rules about the human world. But as far as things about his family, his past, and his life? No. Law hadn’t told Luffy anything about himself. Everything that Luffy knew about Law was all thanks to observation. Or was it obssession?

 

“Don’t dwell on it.” Baby Five was now straining the oil from the tuna flakes. She put the strainer on top of a shallow bowl and let it sit for a while. “Law’s just like that but he’s really nice. Just needs time to open up.”

 

“Sounds like the two of you are really close.” The boy walked towards the refrigerator to grab a chocolate bar or something but found nothing of the sort. “You grew up with him?”

 

“I did.” Baby Five was now looking into the cupboard for sesame seeds. She was pretty sure her cousin would keep those in stock because he liked the smell of sesame seeds being cooked. “He’s older than me but, yeah, we kind of grew up together.”

 

“What was he like?” Luffy grabbed an orange from the fruits basket and walked back to the chair he was sitting on earlier. 

 

“Moody.” 

 

“With fainting episodes?”

 

Baby Five sighed heavily. The smell of orange started to fill the air as Luffy carefully peeled it strip by strip from top to bottom. He imagined Law could’ve done it in one spiral peel because it was so  _ him _ . 

 

“Luffy, I told you, I can’t…” She said amidst the pots and pans clanging and the stove knob clicking with the sound of fire that felt too puffy than what the demon was used to. “Law would rather tell you these things himself. You’re his  _ boyfriend _ and—”

 

He wouldn’t. It didn’t matter what Baby Five thought they were. It didn’t even matter what  _ Luffy _ thought they were. The only thing Law had said about their whole “boyfriends” setup was that it was just “something they told people”. Saying “I love you” twice and getting no response should ring a god damn bell. The click, the silence, and awkward replies didn’t mean Law wouldn’t love him. It didn’t mean that Law  _ didn’t _ love him. But it assured him of  _ nothing _ . So at the moment, what was Luffy clinging onto? Fucking until morning? “Yours”? “Mine”?

 

“Please?” Luffy’s voice became smaller as he remembered how Law had slowly leaned over him this morning to give him the sweetest kiss he’d ever received. “I mean… I just want to take care of him better and…” 

 

Luffy put down the orange he was holding but Baby Five was already looking at him when he lifted his head. The girl looked skeptical, a bit hesitant, and that was okay. Luffy could work with that. He had his ways.

 

“Please?” Luffy knotted his eyebrows, pouted, puffed his cheeks a bit, and tilted his head. “I promise I won’t tell him I know.” 

 

“But…”

 

“ _ Please _ ?”

 

He pursed his lips and pushed his eyebrows harder together in distress. Baby Five looked like she was about to do something she was going to regret but  _ come on _ . It was just a story. It wasn’t going to hurt her. Luffy sighed like a wordless repetition of his request as his shoulders fell in frustration, eyes dropping with it as he slowly, timidly, and  _ sadly _ picked up the orange in defeat. 

 

“Okay…” He mumbled softly. “I just…”

 

Luffy sighed again. He didn’t want to resort to demon’s whisper. It would be better if—

 

“Okay! Okay,  _ fine _ !!” Baby Five finally blasted and Luffy had to stop a triumphant smile from creeping across his lips. “Don’t think that face is going to work on Law all the time, though.”

 

“What face?” 

 

Baby Five just rolled her eyes away albeit with a smile and a shake of her head. 

 

Luffy picked up the orange and started eating. He couldn’t decide if the tangy smell of the fruit piercing the nice, warm aroma of the sesame seeds being cooked bothered him or not but he did know that he enjoyed the sound of the grains swishing with a unique sizzle across the pan.

 

“Law had a weak heart.” Baby Five said so suddenly.

 

What did she say? Weak heart?

 

Luffy popped a segment of the orange into his mouth and made a curious sound.

 

“And that meant…” Baby Five lifted the pan off the stove and transferred the grains into a small bowl. “He tired out  _ so easily _ even from light physical activity—walking, being in the heat, being in the cold, or even from just  _ standing _ . He ran out of breath quickly and fell asleep just about anywhere when fatigue hit him.” 

 

“What?” Luffy almost dropped the orange piece he was holding. “That sounds horrible! How did he even play outside?”

 

“Simple. He  _ didn’t _ .” Baby Five walked over to the tuna flakes she had been straining and made a small noise, tilting the strainer a bit and shaking any remaining oil off. Behind her at the kitchen table, Luffy had his mouth open as he drew a deep breath of disbelief. 

 

Law did not play outside!? How incredibly boring! Luffy was never a child and even  _ he _ knew that play was fun and important!

 

“So since he couldn’t be outside, Law spent a lot of his time reading indoors. He was mostly home schooled for a few good years.” The girl’s voice came with the sound of more sizzling as she dumped the tuna flakes into the hot pan. “But damn was he smart. When he came to regular school the first time, he was so damn ahead, the curriculum  _ bored _ him. Although, if you ask me,  _ high school _ was the real challenge for him.”

 

Luffy put two more pieces of orange segments in his mouth and licked the side of his thumb. He wanted to ask what in the shit a  _ curacu lord _ was but he decided he wasn’t that interested in it. The name itself was boring. No wonder Law grew tired of it.

 

“Wasn’t Law smart enough for high school?” 

 

Because if he wasn’t then no one else was smart enough for high school.

 

“High school had  _ puberty _ going on.” Baby Five laughed, quickly glancing at Luffy who was too busy with the oranges and the juices running down his fingers. She looked back at what she was doing and kept talking. “Teenagers with raging hormones are one of the scariest things on the planet.”

 

Ah, those days. Being with Law was difficult for a female. Most people mistook Baby Five for his girlfriend because he kept on calling her “Baby Five” when her name was  _ Fai _ . When someone had the guts to ask Law about them, his response was just a quick “No”. Eventually, a group of girls cornered her to ask who the fuck she was if not Law’s girlfriend. She preferred they didn’t.

 

Baby Five had no prior training or experience on how to deal with a bunch of angry teenage girls so the only thing she was capable of doing that time was being scared as fuck. Who knew being called “ugly” and “bimbo” could hurt so much? It was the first time she heard the word “ambitious” being used to hurt a person, too. 

 

Thankfully, a pink-haired girl who was passing by shooed them away by threatening to “pull on your hair so bad, even a barrel of hair conditioner wouldn’t save you”. Her name was Bonney, Baby Five learned eventually, after she had given her a lot of thanks. And food.

 

Two days later, Law found out about the bullying. He scolded her for not telling him and got so fucking pissed, nothing could have stopped him from personally threatening the girls.

 

”Try doing anything like that to my cousin again and let’s see what happens to you.”

 

A few days later, both Baby Five and Law were summoned to the guidance office after all the girls who received Law’s open threat got a weird case of rashes. Apparently, both of them were being blamed for it and the teachers were forcing them to admit what they did. Law’s snickering didn’t really help and got him into an argument instead. Baby Five ended up crying, which just made Law even angrier. A bad case of rashes breaking out among the teachers the next two days was enough reason for the school to give both Baby Five and Law a week’s worth of suspension.

 

“But we didn’t do anything!” Law kept on saying. “How was the rashes outbreak  _ our _ fault!?”

 

Law was so upset, he wanted to drop out and Cora-san was so furious—”My babies would never do such a thing!”—that he managed to force his brother to go to school and have a stern talking to “the smart-ass who thought my nephew and my niece deserved a suspension”. That had been a very busy month for everyone.

 

“Come to think of it, I’ve lost count of the people who wanted to lose their virginity to him.” Baby Five muttered thoughtlessly.

 

“Can’t blame them. He  _ is _ hot.” Luffy said as-a-matter-of-factly before finishing the rest of the small orange, chewing loudly as he spoke. “Did you know girls go to the infirmary where he worked just so they could experience him being professional?”

 

“Experience  _ what _ now?” She was half-laughing, glancing between Luffy and the pan like she was trying to check if Luffy was joking. Seriously? Even in university? She was worried if anyone had been mean to Luffy yet.

 

“They just… You know,  _ go there _ .” Luffy swallowed and looked at the bits of orange peelings and its juice drops on the table as he thought of how he was to clean everything up. “To talk to him. The poor things.”

 

There was a puff and the sound of the clanking pan before a rag was flung on the table in front of Luffy. The boy looked up to see Baby Five nodding at him. After a confused second, Luffy picked up the damp rag and started wiping the table, gathering the bits in his other hand as he went.

 

“Poor things?” Baby Five asked.

 

“Well, Law isn’t interested in any of them.” Luffy said casually. “I mean,  _ sure _ , they flirt and Law tries to take care of whatever fucking fake disease they say they have but as far as being interested goes?” He rolled his eyes away and waved his hand in dismissal. “Fucking  _ no _ .”

  
Because, really,  _ no _ . Just,  _ no _ .

 

“You’re not worried Law might like any of them?”

 

“He doesn’t.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

“Very.”

 

Luffy made sure to be quick with his every reply. Half of his brain was confident. The other half was pissed. Yes, Law didn’t like  _ them _ but it irked him that he wasn’t sure what kind of like Law had for  _ him _ . Sure, the human had some  _ desire _ for the demon but Luffy was an  _ incubus _ . And wanting an incubus was normal, if not expected. In fact, it was Law’s strong initial resistance that was surprising. He did give in, though, eventually, but that was not what Luffy wanted. Or at least not anymore. He didn’t want to be just  _ looked at _ . Didn’t want to be just  _ desired for _ . It wasn’t enough, at least not when it came to Law. Luffy wanted more.

 

_ I love you _ .

 

And Law hadn’t given any proper answer. Twice already. What was anyone to make of that?

  
“I like that you’re confident about this, I’ll give you that..” Baby Five smiled with an approving nod at him. “Although that’s far from what I thought when you were wailing about missing him earlier.”

 

“Everyone misses the love of their lives when they’re not together.” Luffy threw the orange peelings into the garbage can and headed over to the sink to wash the rag and his hands. “It just so happens I’m not ashamed to be vocal about it.”

 

“And Law’s okay with that?” Baby Five had finished lightly frying the tuna flakes and was now transferring it to a small shallow bowl. She’d have added some green peas but they were in the freezer and she was in no mood to thaw the shit out of it for the sake of a snack. 

 

“He should be.” Luffy turned off the faucet and dried his hands. “He has his own...  _ episodes _ of terribly missing me after all.”

 

“He tells you this?” Law’s cousin raised an eyebrow at him, smiling as she did, to which Luffy responded with a mischievous smile of his own as he leaned forward.

 

“Oh, more than just  _ tells _ .”

 

That confused her for a while and she found herself blinking dumbly at him. What did he mean? But then Luffy wiggled his eyebrows and that made things clear.

  
“Ooooookay, no!” Baby Five quickly turned with raised hands as Luffy laughed in the background. She shook her head with a laugh of her own, regretting that she had not immediately caught on with what the boy was saying. “ _ No _ . I am definitely  _ not _ going to venture into that discussion about my cousin.”

 

Luffy was still laughing, but said nothing more. She smiled to herself again, wondering how Law spent his time with this naughty little man who was not like any of Law’s previous partners. Her cousin wasn’t a serial dater but Baby Five knew for a fact how had tried out being with different kinds of people only for them to leave him when he became difficult to deal with. Not once had she seen him plunge into the depths of sorrow or grief from the break up—not even when he experienced it the first time—but then she knew he was lonely. Law had issues with being liked because of his face or his skills; had issues with being left behind, with being left alone; had issues with asking people to stay.

 

Maybe Luffy didn’t primarily see Law as some sort of trophy to brag about. Maybe Law was something more than a handsome person to Luffy. Maybe Luffy was a drop of happy change in Law’s life. Maybe Law felt that Luffy was here to stay. Maybe Luffy wanted to stay.

 

Maybe Law could be happy this time.

 

“So what are you doing?” Luffy was suddenly beside her. “Let me help.”

 

“Oh.” Baby Five fidgeted. Was she thinking out loud? She hoped not. “Don’t trouble yourself, Luffy. Just sit there and...”

 

“What are you talking about? I want to learn.” The boy frowned and showed her a soup ladle that he was already holding. “Show me how I can make rice balls for Law when he comes back.”

 

And with some air of finality, the boy nodded at her and she gaped at him for a while. Was he joking about the ladle? He didn’t seem like he was. Luffy tilted his head at her, obviously confused and impatient.

 

“Well?” Her cousin’s boyfriend asked and then pouted, waving the shiny ladle in small quick circles.

 

And Baby Five broke into laughter.

 

She hoped Law would be happy this time.

* * *

Law was going crazy. It was the only explanation. Why else would his brain send happy signals to his facial muscles? Ever since he read that text from Baby Five, all he wanted to do was smile. And his smiling face was  _ creepy _ . He looked like a schemer whose sinister plot for world domination had successfully taken flight. He would never understand how people found that sexy. Human beings were stupid creatures and Baby Five was a stupid creature for sending him that text.

 

Law pulled out the phone from his front pocket so he could reread said stupid text message as he made his way to the library.

 

_ Luffy’s fun. He loves you a lot _ .

 

Law’s face had heated up as soon as he read his boyfriend’s name on the screen and in less than a second later, his brain was having a tug of war against the corners of his lips that were starting to pull themselves up. For crying out  _ loud _ ! It wasn’t even a secret that Luffy had overwhelming affections for him. Why in the shit was it making him blush  _ now _ !? 

 

Besides, weren’t they a “thing” now? In a relationship? Like… Officially? That’s how it worked, right? When someone said “I love you” and the other person said “I love you, too” or something to that effect, that made them officially in a romantic exclusive dating relationship, right? Wait, had it always been called something that long? 

 

Fuck. Law should’ve just waited to get his ass home so they could have a proper talk, but, no. Luffy said “I love you” and he just went and said “Me, too.” Stupid decision. Law was crazy. He  _ had _ to be crazy if he was starting to fight with the voluntary and involuntary muscles of his body every time something nice about Luffy was brought up by his traitorous brain.

 

“Morning, Robin.” Law leaned over the counter where the librarian was sitting and sifting through a stack of index cards. The beautiful woman tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked up, adjusting her glasses, and smiling at her visitor.

 

“Good morning, Law.” 

 

Their voices were soft and low, but the words were clear. It’s a skill one eventually learned when working so often in the library. 

 

“I was wondering if I could use the printer.” Law continued, nodding towards the hardware in question, “I have a letter for a permit that Mrs. Giolla’s asked me to file.”

 

“Do you have to download or...” Robin slightly pushed herself away from the table.

 

“No.” Law lifted a small yellow flash drive with a boring square keychain that’s only there for visibility. “I have it saved here.” 

 

“Oh, okay.” Robin shrugged with another smile as she went back to looking at the index cards, “Just use the logbook and the proper slips. You know the drill.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Law stepped into the counter, pushing a small swinging door that creaked only slightly behind him. The computer was already on, Law noted, but the printer had no paper in it. Seeing that that the paper rack next to it was also empty, he carefully dropped his bag and his jacket on the chair before turning towards the small cabinet where they kept the reams.

 

“I’m opening a new one.” He mumbled as he pulled a thick block of sealed paper sheets, “Going to note in the inventory.”

 

Robin made a low sound of acknowledgement.

 

Law pulled out a small notebook from the side of the cabinet and quickly opened it by the page marked by the pen inserted between its leaves. He easily jotted down the necessary information under the columns, glancing at the ream on his other hand from time-to-time to write down the details. For some people, such a task would be considered unnecessary or tedious, but Law liked having organization in his life. Keeping proper track of things was necessary in his life and was often calming to him. It kept his mind at ease knowing everything was in order.

 

“You sound happy.” Robin said again and that was only when Law realized he had been humming.

 

“Are you feeling better now?” Robin asked amidst the sound of thick paper packaging being carefully ripped open. Law furrowed his eyebrows. Better? Was he sick? Was he—Oh.

 

“Yeah.” the student assistant replied reluctantly, slightly turning his head to glance at Robin who still had her back to him. “I’m fine now.”

 

Law carefully crumpled the small strips of paper from the packaging.

 

What did it say about him when he was god damn horny enough to make the librarian think he was  _ sick enough to be sent home _ ?

 

“That’s good.” Robin was saying now as Law pulled out several sheets of paper out of the ream so he could put it on the paper rack next to the printer. “Your friends were here yesterday. They were really worried about you. I think they thought you died.”

 

“Yeah, their texts blew up my inbox.” Law pulled out the swivel chair and pushed his bag to the side before sitting,“I thought I died, too.”

 

Robin hummed as if to say “Really?”

 

“Of  _ trauma. _ ” Law stressed. Robin hummed again, her smile obvious across her voice.

 

“Which reminds me, Bonney asked me about how the recataloging was going on because she had to report to Kalifa on your behalf.” Robin turned her chair properly to look at Law who had thrown the strips of packaging paper into the waste bin, “Is this a new policy? Should I report about you on a weekly basis now?”

 

“Oh, no, it’s just…” Law reached down to plug his flashdrive into the USB port without looking, “Just Kalifa being... Kalifa. You know how she is. Sorry about that.”

 

After a good while of feeling around for the stupid USB port, a definite click and a small pop-up window informed Law that the thumbdrive had been successfully inserted. Strangely, that reminded him so much of how deliciously satisfying it had been thrusting into Luffy’s impossibly pleasurable tightness last night and god fucking  _ damn it _ ! How did his brain think that up!? That line of thought wasn’t supposed to happen! Like what the hell, brain? What the actual hell!?! 

 

“I see. It’s no problem.” Robin shrugged and Law hoped the heat crawling up his face wasn’t making itself visually obvious. He cleared his throat in an attempt to reboot his brain as he tried to focus on the letter he had to print. 

 

Wait, did she just watch him struggle with the plugging before actually responding? Sadist.

 

“I’m pretty surprised you hadn’t done anything about her yet.” Robin turned her chair back towards the stack of index cards.

 

“Because…” Law laughed lowly as he clicked his way around the folders so he could open up his file. “Spelling out “I’m not into you” using bloodied chicken entrails on her desk will get me in trouble, Robin.” 

 

“It won’t be if you use third person.” Robin waved her pen around like she was sure she made sense, “If you go for “ _ Law _ is not into you”, it sounds like it’s written by someone else, yes?”

 

The student assistant smiled and shook his head. If he was going to plan a murder, Nico Robin would be a good partner in crime. Sure, they might get caught, but at least they would have had _ fun _ .

 

“Behave, you thing.” Law mumbled as the printer started to sound like it was grinding the bones of a thousand sinners inside. It had this mood where it would eat the goddamn paper or smear ink all over the fucking page. 

 

“Heeeyyy!” A loud older male voice greeted with overflowing cheer and overconfidence. Law didn’t have to look up to know that it was Robin’s blue-haired boyfriend that was leaning over the counter. But he did check if only to see how he had styled his hair today. It was heavily gelled up judging by how it fanned out into a wavy spike forward with a curled bang falling solidly across his forehead that defied gravity to say the least.

 

Franky had the weirdest body proportions in that you’d recognize him just by his  _ shadow _ . Law remembered being unable to hold back telling him that he wasn’t supposed to skip leg day because it was  _ bad _ . The blue-haired engineer had genuinely laughed that off, heavily slapping Law’s back as Robin giggled. 

 

“How’s my  _ super _ gorgeous girlfriend doing?”

 

“Good morning, Franky. Please keep it down.” Robin’s smooth and calm voice was in stark contrast with Franky’s. “What brings you here?”

 

The man with broad shoulders leaned on the counter and lifted his shades to squint his eyes in an absolutely disturbing way in an attempt to be cool. And Law had seen Franky enough to know what  _ that _ look meant. That was Franky’s face right before he threw out a cheesy line without shame. Law decided it was best for him to lean back and pay attention to what he had come here for—the letter.

 

“Should I need a reason to see you?”

 

Law rolled his eyes away. Robin just flatly stared at her boyfriend and said nothing. A few awkward seconds of silence later, Franky finally gave up.

 

“I need to have something photocopied.”

 

“The Engineering department has its own photocopier.” Robin raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”

 

Franky grinned and leaned further forward towards Robin as he spoke in a lower, but smoother voice.

 

“I needed a reason to see you.”

 

That was so fucking corny that Law visibly cringed while inwardly kicking himself for having paid enough attention to _hear_ _it_. There was also a second of confusion of whether he loved or hated how it reminded him of all the goofy nicknames Luffy had for him.

 

“I’m done printing.” Law said almost right after Franky in an attempt to distract himself from thoughts of Luffy. He then turned to the librarian and nodded at the paper she was holding, “Do you need me to do that for you before I go, Robin?”

 

“Oh, no. I’ll do it, thank you.” Robin smiled, “The photocopier has been been cranky since yesterday.”

 

“It’s misbehaving  _ again _ ?” Law carefully put his printed out documents in a folder, “I could swing by the property custodian’s office to file a request for it to be looked at if you want. Or if you haven’t yet.”

 

“That would be helpful. Thanks, Law.”

 

“Or I could just fix it for you, beautiful.” Franky called out a bit louder than necessary, making both Robin and Law instinctively snap their heads towards him with a calm, but heavy stare. They weren’t even glaring but Franky fidgeted and covered his mouth. Vicious warning stares were something he and Robin had unconsciously developed to scare off loud people in the library. 

 

“Franky, we have protocols about malfunctioning school property.” Robin sighed, her features softening.

 

“At least let him take a look at it.” Law shrugged. Their conversation had nothing to do with him, honestly, but Franky looked like he was just finding an excuse to stand next to his girlfriend. Law wasn’t sure how he could tell with Franky tilting his head at the librarian. It was an odd thing to look at—a small head moving left and right between wide boulder shoulders. Law told himself again that it was none of his business.

 

“Fine.” Robin smiled and called him over. 

 

Franky’s face brightened so much, Law thought he was going to start shooting solar beams from his face.

 

“Well, then! I’d say my work here is done.” Law pushed the small swinging door, passing by the muscled engineer who smiled and nodded at him.

 

“You’re in a good mood, Trafalgar.”

 

“Because it’s been a good morning so far.”

 

Franky laughed with a thumbs up. Law strolled towards the library exit, humming to himself.

* * *

“So what would  _ you _ do?” Baby Five was standing in the garden from where she glared at Luffy who was leaning on the door post. She had tied up her hair into a nice bun and wore a dark brown apron over a more comfortable set clothes that she had changed into. Her garden boots and gloves were particularly nice and Luffy made a mental note to ask Law if he could have something like those, too.

 

“If I were you and your delivery boy were Law, I’d have something delivered every damn minute.” Luffy scoffed. “And then I’ll have less clothes on every time I answer the door until he gets the message and fucks me out of my mind.”

 

It was a good answer to dealing with a crush, Luffy told himself. Baby Five didn’t think so, obviously, with how she rolled her eyes away before pulling a stool with her foot and sitting next to a clump of plants. 

 

“Sai delivers milk to the mansion  _ daily _ , Luffy.” The girl started cutting out some plant parts that Luffy didn’t care about. “If I ask him out and he says no, it’s going to be an awkward morning for us everyday!” 

 

Luffy opened his mouth to reason out but she was quick to turn and wave her shears at him.

 

“And stop it with the sexual suggestions!”

 

“Well, why would he say  _ no _ !? Is he dumb!?” Luffy pushed himself off the door post, waving his arms towards her. “I’d understand if he’d say no to a harpy, but  _ you _ !?”

 

“He just has a lot of options.” The girl replied, making a face as she tilted her head left and right. “I mean, he’s the captain of his college’s martial arts club or something. He’s probably… Like…  _ Really popular _ . And girls are probably throwing themselves at him.”

 

It was Luffy’s turn to make a face.

 

“So basically like Law. Except Sai is  _ single _ .”

 

“Ugh. I told you, it’s not that simple.” Baby Five groaned amidst the sound of shears cutting stems and leaves. “Now shut up about Sai and check the gutter.”

 

“The gutter isn’t even part of the garden.” 

 

“Gutter.  _ Now. _ ” Baby Five nodded at the ladder. “Or I’ll tell Law.”

 

Luffy scratched his head. Well, he  _ did _ promise to help with whatever she needed. It was a good thing that Baby Five told him where the ladder was or he would’ve jumped to the roof without a mind that she’d see.

 

“Check all sides.” Baby Five said as Luffy climbed.

 

The touch of sunlight was warmer from the roof and Luffy welcomed the faint breeze that came with it every now and then. Law’s house was lower than the buildings with wide rooftops and wired fences that Luffy used to dash around on, perch on, or cling on. How long had it been since his last nightly adventures? A week or so? So many things had happened. It felt like a long time ago. 

 

They said time flew by when one had fun but maybe that had only been a saying for humans. Being with Law made Luffy so happy that time seemed to stretch so that he could savor their every second together. Or at least until they broke the bond.

 

Luffy shook his head. 

 

Oh. Maybe he could check territory while he was up here. The gutter wasn’t going anywhere, anyway. 

 

“Seriously?” Luffy mumbled to himself. Looking around with sharper eyes than usual allowed him to see that just like the inside of the house, the outside still had even mana distribution. It was so fucking consistent that Luffy wanted to sternly ask Law to answer him honestly if he had any training at all. How was it possible for a human without any previous experience with mana manipulation to claim territory as clean as this? There  _ had _ to be a thin spot on it  _ somewhere _ .

 

Luffy glanced at Baby Five and found her busy with the plants. 

 

With a deep breath, Luffy tried to heighten his sensitivity as he quietly looked and felt around the jurisdiction and— _ thrrrrhhhmmm— _ what was that? There was a sound, a strange humming of vibrations, like the nice, smooth crooning of the wind into moving hollow pipes.

 

The demon looked around. Baby Five was still working in the garden, unaware. 

 

The strange thruming continued like it was singing to Luffy, calling to him, trying to lull him to sleep.

 

Where was that coming from?

 

Luffy decided to feel around a harder and the humming grew louder but he still could not feel or find what was making it. And it was annoying him. So he looked harder. Harder. And even harder until his eyes turned crimson because what in the shit was making that uncanny noise?!

 

He was not prepared for what he saw.

 

Just beneath the veil of Law’s territorial spread was a huge set of interconnected mana circles that ran from the small front lawn to the back garden. And all of them were powered and  _ alive _ . The mana circles turned like cogs of various sizes moving at different speeds with life essence flowing around them so calmly, smoothly, and quietly. It was so discreet that Luffy had to strain his senses just to keep looking at it. 

 

Whatever the effect the map of mana circles had, it encompassed everything it covered from the ground up. Its colors changed from white to yellow to gold as it slowly fed on the plants in the garden, on the birds that flew overhead, on the insects that crawled on the ground it covered, even on Baby Five. Strangely, though, even if the ants on crawling on the roof gave it mana, the circles weren’t feeding on Luffy at all.

 

_ Why _ ?!

 

Who made this? Definitely not Law. The inscriptions and connections were far too complicated to be an accident. If Law could map out circles and glyphs as complicated as this, dealing with Bellamy would not have been a problem for him. But if not him then  _ who _ ? 

 

The whole thing looked passive. Was it a trap? Was it a defensive circle map? If it were, why didn’t it defend against his brothers when they first set foot on this house? Sure, Sabo had asked for permission before entering the house, but Ace was  _ definitely _ a threat when he first stepped in. If his brother’s aggression didn’t trigger the circles, what would? 

 

Nothing was making sense! The only thing that remained clear to Luffy was that the eerie moving inscriptions collected small trickles of life essence to power itself without bothering or endangering the life forms around it. But what for? It was powering itself to do  _ what _ ?

 

What was it waiting for?

 

“Baby Five?” Luffy called out and she just responded with an acknowledging sound for Luffy to continue. “Did anyone else own this house before Law’s mother?”

 

“As far as I know, no one else.” She answered. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Just… Just curious.” Luffy carefully walked around the roof, memorizing as much of the map as he could. “So, aside from her, no one’s used the house? Before Law?” 

 

“No, I don’t think so.” Baby Five shook her head and then leaned back to take a good look at the plant in front of her. “Cora-san would never let anyone use Aunt Lea’s house. He’s too sentimental to let that happen.”

 

“Huh?” The shade of red disappeared from Luffy’s eyes as he walked towards the edge of the roof so he could see Baby Five better. “Sentimental? About this place?”

  
“Yes. This house is special to him. To Law. To us, really.” The girl looked up at Luffy. “This is where Aunt Lea died giving birth to Law.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologize if it had taken me months to put this chapter up. First of all, life happened and I was so busy. Secondly, this chapter is very important to the story. I wanted to get it right. If I’m not mistaken, it is by far the chapter with the most number revisions I have ever written for in my life. 
> 
> Comments/reviews are very welcome and appreciated. Thanks!


	18. Circumstances

“Oh, damn everything! I don’t know anymore!” Luffy threw himself face first into Law’s pillow on the bed. 

 

After Baby Five had left, he had done nothing but pace all over the house in a desperate attempt to figure out what the mana circles were about. It didn’t really do anything alarming but what the fuck was it there for if it had no purpose? Normally, he’d rather deal with things when they happened. There was no use fretting over something that wasn’t happening yet, after all. But what about  _ Law _ ? What if this thing was just waiting to eat his human when he turned thirty? Luffy wasn’t about to wait for  _ that  _ and deal with it  _ then _ !

 

Unfortunately, Luffy’s mental faculties weren’t enough to deduce the magical thrumming drawings under Law’s house and to say it was damn  _ frustrating _ was a massive understatement. His head  _ hurt _ and his mood had been  _ hellish _ . He’d never been this bothered in his entire life. It even had him charging into the shower to douse his possibly swollen brain. He also found himself eating the rice balls he had intended for his human but that didn’t do him any good either. He even tried touching himself for some distraction or relaxation to no avail.

 

That was the last straw. Fuck thinking.

 

“Laaaaaw…” Luffy groaned into the pillow, feeling how his body was physically aching from stress and worry. What’s worse was that his number one and possibly only source of relief was nowhere close. 

 

Luffy wanted Law.  _ Needed _ him. How much longer before his beautiful human got home? The last time he felt this needy was  _ yesterday _ . They were all over each other as soon as Law rushed home and all was perfect with the world. It didn’t seem like a repeat of that was going to happen today, though. Luffy never thought he needed a phone until now. 

 

With no way to reach Law without leaving the house, Luffy decided to distract himself with other things. Perhaps something good was on television. Yeah, that would help.

 

Picking up one of Law’s pillows to take with him, Luffy started out the room to make his way downstairs. He had not gotten a step further from Law’s bedroom door when he noticed  _ another _ door right across him.

 

Oh. He’d nearly forgotten about this little space despite having been in it just recently. Aside from the book with old photos, this second room also housed a number of organized things that Luffy had no time to explore—time that he now had.

 

Tempting.

 

Luffy chewed on his bottom lip, clutching the large pillow closer to him. Maybe looking at the pictures and other items would give him a clue about the circles. Or the history of this house? Would it be a violation of Law’s privacy to open the door without permission? Well, he wasn’t specifically told never to enter this room so he wasn’t actually disobeying any order. And since this room was part of his master’s territory, by default, Luffy had full permission to enter.

 

Which  _ also  _ meant he would be able to open the door even if it were physically locked.

 

Perfect.

 

Taking a deep breath and pillow still under one arm, Luffy walked towards the door and confidently wrapped his fingers around the doorknob. A light twist and a defiant clack told him it was undoubtedly locked, which wasn’t a problem. A small mana wave had it clicking unlocked in an instant and Luffy found himself gingerly stepping into the room.

 

“Hello?”

 

There was still some sense of disappointment that there was no three-headed dog or a baby  dragon in the room.

 

“It’s as I left it.” Luffy told the pillow under his arm before nodding to himself. 

 

Light from the hallway flooded into the darkness as Luffy pushed the door as wide open as he could. It was irksome how this room barely smelled like Law. That meant the man didn’t really come here that often, which was understandable considering how this was just some storage room. Still, Luffy didn’t want to waste so much time hanging around a place that didn’t smell like his human. Not now when he’s agitated, pissed, and  _ longing _ . In fact, if Law showed up right now, Luffy would probably just rip off their clothes and fuck right on the spot.

 

Luffy could barely remember where he put the picture book but the word “PHOTO” on the thick spine glared at him enough to make its whereabouts obvious. He plucked the thing between the other currently insignificant objects before sitting on the floor right in the middle of the room.

 

“Here we go.” He opened the photo album on top of the pillow he had placed over his crossed legs.

 

Luffy flipped over the pages curiously, eyes trying to find Law in each photo. Sure, the goal was to find out something about this house, but, hey, would it hurt to have a glimpse at his human’s past? 

 

Based on the photos, Law was a really small child and a very thin one, too. Well, Baby Five  _ did _ say he was a sickly little boy. Although he hoped she mentioned about the large fluffy stuffed bear toy in an orange jumpsuit that seemed to appear in many photos of his childhood. It looked cute. Maybe Law still had it and Luffy could have it as a companion when Law was away. Luffy managed to spot Baby Five, too. It seemed Law really did spend a lot of time with her.  But aside from Baby Five and Law, Luffy didn’t think he knew anyone else.

 

Oh, wait. There was Cora-san and his dorky black feathered coat. And there was a guy in pointy sunglasses wearing the same kind of feathered coat except in pink. It was difficult to miss these two tall men. Law had so many photos with the both of them. The pictures with the pink-wearing guy became more and more formal as the years progressed. Among other significant recurring humans was a robust dark-skinned man and a green-haired girl.

 

His human’s expression changed from time-to-time, too. Sometimes, he managed a small smile here and there, but nothing that felt real or happy enough. Was it because the pictures were old?

 

Luffy was in the middle of wondering if Law had other friends as a child when he came to a group photo with only children in it. Just like with the others, Luffy’s immediate reaction was to look for his human. He found Law with much ease because he stood out but not in the manner that Luffy preferred.

 

Law’s eyes were the only ones blacked out with a line made by thick black marker.

 

Luffy felt cold all of a sudden before shaking his head vigorously. He needed to clear the negative thoughts that were creeping into his head so the demon decided to chalk it up to accident. Maybe someone just dashed this marker here without meaning to. After all, why would anyone do that to Law? And why would Law keep something as horrible as this, right? So it didn’t matter, did it?

 

It did. The next photo with the same group of children had something worse. Law’s whole face was erased with a big black dot. And it did not end there. With each succeeding picture with the same group of children, the dark circle on Law’s face became larger, messier scribbles. The only reason why Luffy could tell it was Law anymore was because he was standing next to Baby Five. Both of them were always at the far end and significantly away from everyone else.

 

The demon ran a thumb across the blotted out face of his beloved. He didn’t know if it had some exact meaning to humans but it was disturbing to him. He didn’t like it. It made his heart freeze and beat harder at the same time. Why would anyone do this sort of thing to Law’s picture?

 

_ “You smell so bitter!” _

 

The voice didn’t feel like it came from his head. It came from around him. Luffy fidgeted, his fingers fumbling and almost dropping the photo book on the floor.

 

“Who’s there?!” 

 

He quickly turned his head towards the door and tried to sense if Law had come home but realized the house was still empty save for himself.

 

Was he imagining things? Yeah, that must have been it.

 

Luffy turned his attention back to the photo album and flipped through its remaining leaves.

 

Thankfully, It seemed Law no longer had any photos with that particular group of children as he grew older. None of his other pictures were blacked out by dark ink either, which was a relief. Perhaps that was just a phase. He hoped so.

 

“Well, that wasn’t very helpful.” Luffy sighed as he closed the book, stood up, and put it back to where he had taken it from. “Too early to give up, though.”

 

The demon sat back down in the middle of the room, looking around thoughtfully as he held the pillow close to his nose. From where he was seated, the shelves and stacked up boxes felt like towering walls around him. All of it looked dull and uninteresting. Luffy wasn’t sure what to look at next and he sure as hell didn’t have the liberty or patience to go through everything one by one.

  
Why couldn’t inanimate objects talk? If there was a skill that allowed anyone to look into the past of an object, Luffy would love to learn it now. Mana manipulation, however, wasn’t his strongest suit. Besides, even if there was such a technique, warlocks never really shared their knowledge with one another let alone with demons. Luffy and his friends were lucky enough to meet someone as nice as Crocus, to be honest.

 

Luffy was in the middle of regretting not paying enough attention to their warlock friend’s lessons when a small plastic box caught his attention. It didn’t look particularly special but it was within his reach. And that was all the reason his arm needed to pull it closer. Now Luffy wasn’t exactly an observant creature but he the first thing he noticed about this box was how it had not accumulated the same amount of  _ dust _ as the other objects in the room.

 

The latches on either end of the box made Luffy contemplate. Was this something Law would not want him to see? Well, it didn’t have any locks on it so maybe it wasn’t that important. Luffy found his fingers moving on their own before he could decide. Two clacks later, the cover was off.

 

The inside was carefully lined with soft cloth that had yellowed over time. Among its contents were two smaller boxes—one that read “Dominoes” and another that read “Jenga”—next to a small transparent case that held several pieces of dice. A small red velvet bag right next to it looked interesting enough so Luffy picked it up. The bundle of thin colored sticks inside was a bit of a let down but he wasn’t sure. Luffy was contemplating whether he’d seen something like it before when a small purple velvet pouch quickly made him drop that thought.

 

“It’s heavier.” Luffy told the pillow on his lap as he weighed the small bag on his hand. With one tug at the yellow cord, the pouch opened its mouth and out spilled a good number of shiny, transparent marbles that fell into the box.

 

“Oh! Oh, shit! Oh, shit!” Luffy frantically closed the small bag and tried to keep the rest of the contents in its traitorous velvety stomach. The marbles that managed to escape had fallen and rolled, hiding into the small gaps between the objects inside the box like they were intentionally trying to escape Luffy’s eyes and reach. 

 

Clack-clack-clack went the stupid inanimate little fuckers against the cloth-lined plastic surface of the box. It almost like they were laughing at Luffy’s stupidity. He was immediately regretting having opened this box at all. Now he had to remove its contents to find where the marbles had hidden themselves.

 

With a grunt, the now irate demon started taking out the items in the box while trying his best to remember where they had been. He had to put everything back the way it was because even if Law didn’t venture into this room that much, he still thought it better to be sure.

 

Luffy was in the middle of cursing having even touched that purple pouch when his fingers slipped and dropped what he first thought was a book. Its cover flying off mid-air made Luffy realize that it was a cardboard box. In it was something rectangular and shiny that hit the floor with what sounded like a very fragile thud that made Luffy jump and worry. The demon hurriedly picked it up before it bounced any further and damaged itself. Fuck, nothing better be broken or he was in deep trouble.

 

Thankfully, there wasn’t.

 

And it was only then that Luffy realized that what had fallen out was a gold picture frame with thick white matting around a small image of two people. Luffy squinted a bit and recognized one of them as Law’s sickly uncle.

 

The photo must have been taken years ago judging by Cora-san looked a decade or two younger. Wow. The very wide smile he wore was obviously happy and  _ healthy _ , totally nothing like the frail uncle that visited a few days ago. Luffy wondered what happened. What was he sick with again? Ah, never mind.

 

Next to Cora-san was a young woman with wavy black hair and side swept bangs. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of hazel brown that seemed to come alive even in the dimly lit room that Luffy was in. She was smiling radiantly, too, and one of her arms was locked around Cora-san’s elbow. They seemed to be really close. Even closer than how Baby Five was to Law. Maybe she was related to the man? Girlfriend? Best friend? Sister? 

 

...Cousin?

 

That rung a bell.

 

“Law’s mother…” Luffy found himself mumbling as he thoughtfully traced a finger over the glass. What was her name again? Baby Five had mentioned it. Linda? Lana? Lena? Laura? Luffy hated himself for not remembering. This was the woman who brought Law into this world. The least Luffy could do to thank her was to remember her name.

 

Law’s mother was beautiful compared to most human females that Luffy had seen. She looked like a cheery person, which was so unlike her almost permanently scowling son. Not that Luffy was complaining, though, because Law’s smirk was sexy as hell. He had imagined Law’s mom to look a bit more like her son, though. Sure, they had some resemblance in the hair color and the nose but their eyes looked entirely different. 

 

Maybe Law got his eyes from his father? Yeah, that was possible. Cora-san’s eyes looked like Law’s minus the overflowing energy and happiness. They squinted the same way, too. And their jaw seemed to be similar, as well. Maybe Law really did get those features from Cora-san and combined with his mother, they—Ah, wait, Cora-san was his  _ uncle _ , wasn’t he?

 

Luffy froze. Uh-oh. He felt like he was venturing into dangerous territory but his mind was starting to churn its gears on its own. And that was rare. Didn’t he say no more thinking? But who was Law’s dad again? Oh, that’s right, Baby Five did say that she knew little to nothing about Law’s dad but… 

 

The photo seemed to be glaring back at him.

 

_ Cora-san. _

 

But, no. They were  _ cousins _ . Humans didn’t copulate with their cousins.

 

Did they?

 

“This…” The demon shook his head, tearing his eyes to turn away from the photo and willing his thoughts away. “This isn’t what I’m looking for.” 

 

Luffy cursed under his breath and hurriedly put everything back into what he thought was its proper place. He didn’t the way his silly, unwanted ideas were unraveling itself in his head. He wasn’t supposed to have stuck his nose into this room, let alone make assumptions out of the memories it held. If he looked at anything anymore, his brain would never shut up and the thoughts might leak enough for Law to feel them. And that wasn’t good. The last time Luffy inquired about his human’s family, Law had hit the wall in aggravation. What was Luffy thinking nosing around this room? He couldn’t have his human being so pissed at him! Not when things were starting to go nicely for the both of them!

 

There was only one way to make this better. And that was, Luffy decided, to forget what he saw and what he thought. Everything that occurred in this room was going to  _ stay in this room _ . That was easier said than done, of course. The more he tried to forget, the more it flooded his consciousness. But he had to if he wanted things between him and Law to work out to something that resembled a romantic relationship. Otherwise, all the response Luffy’s “I love you” would be getting were clicks and awkward silences. And he didn’t want that. No, he didn’t.

 

He wanted Law to love him back.

 

Hold on. Wasn’t he supposed to be okay with being allowed to stay and love Law?

 

What? More like  _ why _ the bloody hell was he having these god-forsaken realizations  _ now _ ?  _ Really _ !? This was absolutely  _ not _ the time. The connections his brain was making were all wrong and unwanted. It should just shut up!

 

Luffy stormed outside the storage room and slammed the door behind him.

 

He hoped Law was having a better day to talk about when he came home.

 

* * *

  
  


Maybe Robin was right. Maybe Law  _ was _ happy. Genuinely, really, uncontrollably happy. 

 

Earlier today, he had whistled his way into the small lobby of Mrs. Giolla’s office, which was  _ odd _ because that’s where Kalifa worked. And Law made it a point to look flat or pissed whenever he entered a room with  _ her _ in it so she got the hint to leave him alone. He knew he’d failed miserably today when Kalifa looked genuinely surprised and confused for a split second before she flashed a smile at him—a more enthusiastic one than her usual ones—looking pleased with herself. Law simply nodded at her, filed his permit, and then just strolled out whistling into the hallway. 

 

And now the man was driving home with his radio on, humming along, a finger tapping on the steering wheel. Not a single curse word escaped his lips even when he noticed someone not properly using their signal lights after overtaking him. 

 

Now, if that didn’t mean he was happy then that meant he was  _ crazy _ .

 

“Boyfriend.” 

 

The word had barely escaped his lips before he started feeling a smile crawling over his face, his fingers gripping the steering wheel for some strength to understand this fluffy phenomenon. This wasn’t the first time he had a boyfriend but this was the first time that he actually had bubbly rainbow feelings every time he thought his  _ significant other _ was waiting for him at home. And not because they had some fucking to do. He just wanted to them to be next to each other. It was odd. It was new. And it was so  _ welcome _ . Law should be alarmed but the only thing he felt now was  _ relief _ .

 

“Luffy is… My…”

 

_ Boyfriend. _ Went his mind. They were in a relationship where they  _ loved each other back. _ He could practically feel his lips curl and purse itself as he tried to swallow a fountain of  _ happiness _ that was threatening to spew out of his throat.

 

Law wanted to slam his forehead onto the dashboard. He took a deep breath instead, trying to maintain the deadpan look on his face and failing. And then he realized he was  _ alone _ in his car. No one was going to see his horrible smile. So Law permitted himself a small one that immediately went out of control as it invaded his face so much so that he felt his cheeks heating up. He ended up chuckling to himself. Silly. How silly.

 

See? If it was true what they said about love being able to make the smartest people go dumb then Law  _ had _ to be in love. It’s either that or brain damage.

 

A big part of him was scared mostly because he hadn’t thoroughly thought about it thirty thousand times. He wasn’t used to making impulsive decisions without backup plans.

 

And speaking of plans, this  _ wasn’t _ the plan. The plan was to free themselves from each other and then go their separate ways back to their own lives. But suddenly, “me, too” happened and there was no turning back from there. Luffy would  _ never _ let him take that back either. He was probably skipping gleefully or rolling on their bed, sniffing their pillows at home right now.

 

_ Their _ bed.  _ Their _ pillows.

 

Law gripped the steering wheel tighter. He felt like he was going to explode unless he had Luffy in his arms right now. 

 

What the hell was happening to him? It had only been a week since they got together. Logically, no one fell in love in a week. No one even fell in love in less than a _ month _ . Was this just infatuation? Some sort of delight or whatever? Law never really considered himself stupid or sappy enough to give in to the lame-ass callings of the flesh. He’d contemplate on the possibility of him being too “easy” but their intense sex marathon so made that argument fly out the window before anyone could ask. Maybe Law was just being dumb.

 

But then Luffy’s smiling face crossed his mind and he felt so warm and giddy that even his appendix was threatening to burst.

 

The tug-o-war in his brain had to stop.

 

Fine. So maybe Law didn’t “love” Luffy like the movies and novels spoke of. But he liked having the demon next to him, wanted to see him every morning when he woke up, and then again when he came home. Luffy’s face was radiant sunshine and Law wanted him in his arms, in his bed, in his car—just next to him anywhere, really, fingers locked with each other and, oh, what the hell was he thinking? How had he turned into a horrible lovesick Casanova in a week?

 

Whatever other possible side-effects this romantic  _ mutualism _ had, Law wasn’t sure. He’d never been in a relationship with a demon before, which was basically why he was so frustrated and stressed out about it the first time. But right now, all that seemed to be negligible. He was happy. It seemed that was what mattered right now. Law was  _ happy. _ And he hadn’t felt that in a long time.

 

Law felt that staying with Luffy would be worth it because maybe Luffy wasn’t going to walk away when Law became… out of hand? That he’d hold Law’s hand whenever he woke up from nightmares he never understood? Was it possible, maybe, that this time, this one was going to stay with him?

 

Part of Law was scared. A bigger part of him was willing to find out.

 

So whether or not they had to break the bond was a matter for another day. Right now, Law just wanted to get home so he could take Luffy to Friday Food Fest, Dressrosa’s biggest food festival. It was mostly a giant food court, to be honest, but the gathering had become so huge that people ended up calling it a festival. It assembled every other Friday and Law had been there once on the insistence of his friends. His choice not to visit again was more of a personal preference than a result of bad experience. He really just wasn’t comfortable. If it were up to him, in fact, he’d rather eat somewhere else. 

 

But everything was bright, happy, and alive over there. And Luffy would love that. Maybe.

 

* * *

 

Luffy loved nothing more than Law. The human was reminded of that as soon as he saw his demon already waiting for him outside the house. The cute little shit was wearing his most adorable impatient expression and couldn’t even stand still. It was as if he was holding back from just pulling the car by the bumper and dragging it into the small garage. When he started skipping next to the car, Law was a bit worried he might get injured but then  _ demon _ so, yeah. Maybe he should worry more about his  _ car _ .

 

The riding machine with wheels was the last thing on Luffy’s mind, however. He was too fucking _ stressed _ about the stupid mana circles and the fruits of his own curiosity  _ among other things _ to care about anything else but being lovey-dovey with his human. What Luffy needed right now was for Law (and his dick) to soothe whatever uneasiness that was eating at Luffy’s sanity. In fact, all it took was the sound of the driver’s side door being unlocked for Luffy to assume that it was his right to pull it open with a clack. 

 

“Wh-wha—?” Law didn’t even manage to get a foot on the ground before Luffy was already pushing him back inside. “Luffy?”

 

Oh, the first whiff of Law’s life essence was so  _ amazing _ that Luffy felt his poor swollen, throbbing brain relaxing back to normal in almost an instant. And hearing his name being said by that voice was wonderful. Just absolutely, unquestionably  _ sublime _ . The demon climbed onto Law’s lap, kissing the human wherever his lips could land and, ahhh, yes, it was like drinking cold water after trudging through a scorching desert. 

 

As Luffy kicked his sandals off and pushed against the steering wheel—or whichever part of the car—to keep his limbs from tangling with anything, Law did his best to remember where Luffy’s footwear touched so he could clean it later. That eventually proved to be the least of his concerns. A hot mouth on his own and a body pushing against his was all it took to make everything a whole jumble in his head.

 

But, wait, wait,  _ wait _ ! He still had to tell his horny demon boyfriend about Friday Food Fest! And what were they doing trying to have sex in the car? The house was  _ right there _ !

 

“H-hey…!”

 

Inked fingers tried pulling against Luffy’s clothes in an attempt to get the small body off his lap but the message ended up being received the wrong way. The demon just lifted his own shirt off his head and threw it somewhere in the car. Great. So instead of having a horny demon straddling him, Law now had a  _ topless _ horny demon straddling him. Talk about small difference, big impact. Law’s upper half (where his brain was) wanted to punch Luffy in the face for this stupid indecency while the other half (where his dick was) wanted to throw Luffy into the backseat and  _ indulge _ . And why not? Law had  _ never _ fucked in his car. In  _ any _ car. In any  _ vehicle _ , really.

 

“Always a first time for everything.” Luffy whispered as he nibbled on Law’s lower lip, fingers finding the waistband of Law’s pants and unbuttoning it immediately. “Mmmhh… Missed you so much.”

 

“Son of a...” Law huffed, glancing towards the open door of the driver’s side. “It’s barely been a day.”

 

“It’s been more than five minutes.” Luffy’s arm shot out and pulled the door closed with a thud and another clack. “And I am  _ stressed _ .”

 

“Stressed?” The word breathlessly came out as half a moan. “Did something happen?”

 

Maybe dealing with plants tired out demons because they, um, weren’t herbivores? Or was Luffy thinking of their now  _ really official _ relationship the entire day, too?

 

Law’s thoughts were cut at the sight of Luffy’s cotton shorts being tossed towards the passenger seat. He wanted to wonder how on earth Luffy managed to shimmy out of those in such a short while and in such a small space but there were more urgent matters that required Law’s attention.

 

Luffy had no underwear on.

 

Holy hell.

 

“Talk later.” The now completely naked incubus kissed across Law’s jaw and growled into Law’s ear. The man realized that the unzipping sound of his pants went nicely with the flow of words. “I need you to fucking  _ fuck me  _ right now.”

 

Law’s dick was  _ all for it. _

 

All hope of resisting just dissolved itself in the small waves of pleasure as Luffy rocked back and forth on his lap. And then his small hand slipped into Law’s pants, brushing against his clothed erection enough to make Law push his hips upward.

 

“Oh, yeah…” Law wasn’t aware he’d said that as he closed his eyes blissfully. And that was good. Luffy knew he had to keep moving or his thoughts and speculations might spill.  _ That _ wasn’t good. So his hands touched everywhere he could, mind focused solely on building pleasure for the both of them because that’s what Luffy was good for right? That’s what he was good at, what he had been  _ born _ for. 

 

“I can’t even  _ do anything _ in here.” The man complained at the first two instances of his knees hitting  _ something _ in his car. He wanted to move somewhere.

 

“Don’t have to move, hot stuff.” Luffy smiled that sexy little grin of his, licking his lips as his hands ran up and down Law’s torso. “I got you.”

 

Quick fingers made short work of getting the front of Law’s shirt open so that Luffy could further appreciate it with whatever ministrations he could. Hands, mouth, tongue, teeth seemed to happen all at once. All that Law could hear was his own moaning and all that he could do was to let his palms roam all over Luffy. In turn, the hot little demon sighed and whispered and smiled and whimpered and whatever else. Everything was too confusingly good for the human to keep track of. For some reason, Luffy’s pace was more heated and hurried than usual. He wondered why. 

 

Was he sick?

 

But if Law thought Luffy was wasting any more time with anything that had nothing to do with sex, he was  _ gravely mistaken _ . Luffy needed to be used with such  _ urgency _ before he lost his mind. Everything had been rushing around in his head the whole day—Law’s heart condition, the mana circles, Law’s mother dying after giving birth, the photos, Cora-san. Their intense, frantic, passionate touching was nice but not enough to silence Luffy’s mind. He needed to calm down and this was the only way he knew how.

 

Until Law started pushing against him.

 

“Wait. Wait, Luffy.”

 

Did he really just say  _ wait _ ? Nope.

 

Luffy growled, not even bothering to open his eyes in favor of sucking Law’s lower lip and pushing the man’s jeans down to his thighs without even looking. Law was fidgeting, still pushing, trying to resist as if he hadn’t done enough of that in the past few days.

 

“Luffy…!”

 

Okay, fuck it. Law’s pants didn’t have to go all the way off. Luffy just settled for pushing it far enough so he could pay attention to freeing the man’s erection that was straining his boxers. He could snowball from there.

 

“Luffy, I said wait…!”

 

Law’s strained voice came with his tattooed fingers latching onto Luffy’s wrists, effectively stopping him from whatever plans he had for the man’s dick. And the demon wasn't pleased with that. He hissed, more irritated than actually  _ angry _ because  _ why _ !? They already had sex? What was wrong with doing it  _ now _ !?

 

Law was frowning and was about to say something but the sight of his lips parting just made Luffy lunge a ferocious kiss at him. The man’s eyes widened in surprise as he felt himself being pushed against the driver’s seat. Luffy hoped it gave him enough time to wring his wrists free so he could reach again for the waistband of Law’s boxers.

 

“Luffy!” Law tore from the kiss and yelled, grabbing his small boyfriend to shake him by the shoulders but that didn’t seem to do much. Luffy just made a complaining noise that was between a hiss and a whimper, the latter being more obvious. The demon’s eyes scanned the delightful, tempting skin of Law’s torso peeking from the open shirt before his vision fell onto Law’s hard-on that was practically weeping for attention in his underwear.

 

“Law.” Luffy complained with a squeak, biting his lip, eyes still fixated on his human’s erection. “ _ Law _ .”

 

“Hey.” Tattooed hands cupped the demon boyfriend’s puffy cheeks. “Hey, calm down.”

 

“I  _ can’t _ .” Luffy whispered lowly, a bit darkly as he tried to focus his vision towards Law’s face. “I told you, I’m  _ stressed _ . I need to have sex.  _ With you _ .”

 

The demon added the last two words as soon as he caught the slightest wrinkle on Law’s forehead. The man grunted and Luffy had no time or patience to wait for his human sort his shit out. He licked his lips, allowing his eyes to flicker across Law’s abs, following the trail of his tattoos on nicely toned muscle that led him towards the open fly of his boyfriend’s jeans. Luffy’s fingers went again for Law’s crotch but the man was alert.

 

“No, Luffy!” 

 

It was as if Law’s words themselves had slapped Luffy’s fingers away. 

 

“Hands to yourself!”

 

Luffy should’ve snapped at him, really, for not understanding that he  _ needed _ this now but then an invisible force grabbed his hands—his strong demon hands—and slammed it against each other by the wrists before being forcibly pulled towards his own chest. Luffy’s initial reaction was to fight back. Whatever bound him  _ had _ to be a  _ really strong _ figment of his imagination but, no. When he tried pushing his hands apart, they pulled back towards each other like they were cuffed by the wrists.

 

And what was more intriguing (if not totally confusing) was  _ what _ had him bound. Luffy didn’t want to believe it but he could not be mistaken.  _ Law’s mana _ was around his wrists. Fuck. How was this possible? Law was incapable of mana manipulation. At least not at will. What was going on!?

 

“Luffy?”

 

The demon grunted. Fine. He could work with bound hands.

 

Luffy pushed himself forward, mouth latching fiercely against Law’s as his fingers tried reaching lower again. But the man was resilient as Luffy was persistent. His head threw to the side, breaking the kiss before Luffy could make any decent progress.

 

“Hey!” Law shouted. “I said hands off!”

 

Perhaps it had been best to heed that. This time, it felt like an angry whip latched against Luffy’s already bound wrists and yanked his arms back and above his head. How annoying! Luffy stiffened his jaw, deciding on another attempt at resistance, which was immediately denied. Law’s mana tugged him back until his restrained wrists were touching the ceiling of the car with a thud. Luffy would’ve cursed in a foreign tongue if only he could. The distance between him and Law wasn’t that much but for Luffy, it felt like leagues. The restriction of his movements was downright  _ frustrating _ . Luffy wanted to cry in desperate fury.

 

“Luffy…?!” 

 

“Damn it!” The demon yelled in aggravation, tugging against the binding force to no avail as his head fell back in begrudging defeat. There was no sense to him fighting Law’s words after they had been issued like a command. He knew, but his inner self could not help but brood on how would’ve been nice if he was getting tied up so Law could have his way with him. But, no. Law wasn’t— _ shouldn’t— _ even be capable of this and yet here he was, needy, horny, helpless and  _ fucking tied up for no good reason _ . And that thought seemed to just aggravate Luffy further. 

 

“Luffy, what’s wrong!?”

 

What’s  _ wrong _ !?

 

What’s wrong was he had a deep demonic  _ sexual crisis _ that was  _ not _ being attended to! Luffy did not understand how Law could not fathom this on his own. He was supposed to be smart. Luffy should be angry! But Law sounded so worried for him that all Luffy could do was to close his eyes and lick his lips. He had to calm himself down. That’s right. His human didn’t know what was going on. He just got home from a long day at university. He was probably tired.

 

“Touch me.” Luffy lifted his head as he whispered, his thighs twitching as he tried pulling his arms down again to no avail. “I need you to use me.”

 

“Is that why you’re posed like that!?” 

 

“Don’t blame me!” The demon hissed because talking was the last thing he wanted to do now. “ _ You’re _ the one that bound me with your mana!”

 

Luffy tugged at the invisible force that kept him pinned to the ceiling as if to drive his point home.

 

“I have  _ what _ !?” Law’s eyes shifted from Luffy’s wrists to his face and then back to his wrists. “Are you okay!?”

 

“It doesn’t matter, Law. Just—” 

 

“What are you talking about!? Of course, it—”

 

“It  _ doesn’t _ !” Luffy shook his head vigorously, his body swaying side-to-side. Law’s hands quickly landed on his thighs to steady him and Luffy was so fucking needy that the mere touch made him gasp for more. But that just seemed to make the human think he did something wrong. Law drew back, holding his tattooed hands up like he didn’t want to do any more damage.

 

“Law,  _ please _ .” Luffy pushed himself forward desperately, his elbows on either side of his head, wrists and arms pushing against the ceiling of the car as his fingers tightened into fists. 

 

Law gasped at how the naked body straddling his lap dangled to pressed closer towards his face. Luffy’s scent was enticing as it had always been and was not helping him think properly. It was only thanks to Law’s immense self-control that he wasn’t adding another hickey to Luffy’s neck right now.

 

“ _ Please _ .” The demon begged, mouth open, tongue slowly sliding out as if inviting Law to come taste him. And giving in to that was really, really tempting. But Luffy’s safety had to be prioritized

 

“I will. I promise, I will.” Law slightly caressed his face and Luffy’s only response was to lean into the touch. “But first tell me how we can get you out of…”

 

It only took slight movement of Luffy’s head to trap one of Law’s fingers between his soft lips, tongue needily grazing against skin. Luffy hummed, eyes blissfully closed as he sucked with lips puckered around the digit that seemed to be the only thing that mattered right now.

 

Law swallowed hard.

 

“Luffy, listen to me...”

 

“We can figure it out later, Law...”

 

Oh, dear. The demon was almost sobbing. Law found out immediately how he was totally weak to that. The blush on Luffy’s face also proved to be distracting and had his lips been  _ that _ glistening wet since awhile ago? Law’s mind swirled with ideas of being able to touch his little boyfriend without resistance, of him crying for more, of leaving bruises on his skin and  _ loving it _ . Law could totally do  _ anything _ he wanted and—

 

“But what if it’s dangerous?” Cutting such thoughts in favor of logic seemed to be second nature to Law.

 

“You won’t do anything to hurt me, would you?” Luffy asked, his voice just a little louder than a whisper.

 

“O-of course not.”

 

_ Unless you want me to. _

 

Shit. Law was having half-witted ideas that needed to throw itself out the window.

 

“Then your mana won’t either.” Luffy was out of breath and it was so. Fucking. Sexy. “Just, please, Law.  _ Please _ . I’m so needy, it  _ hurts _ . I want to be touched. I want to come. I want you. I want—Mmmhhh!”

 

Law caught the last words with his own mouth. How was he supposed to keep a rein on his desires if Luffy talked like that? Luffy hummed contentedly, trying to press himself against Law and wriggling uncomfortably against his restraints. The demon’s breath hitched with every touch and his body twitched, whimpering loudly when Law’s thumbs found his nipples.  This kind of desperation only seemed to fuel the human’s desire further but he couldn’t help but notice how the small body on his lap was blazing in an alluring kind of heat. 

 

Was he  _ really _ okay?

 

“You’re burning.” Law mumbled against Luffy’s skin, fingers moving in circular motions against the hardened buds. 

 

“I know… It’s stress...” Luffy huffed, only having half-the mind to talk because the rest of his sanity would rather focus on whatever pleasure it could revel in. “Make it go away, Law, please.”

 

Law had been studying a variety of medical practices for a quite a long time now. While he acknowledged that sex could pose as a stress-reliever for certain people, he had yet to discover whether it was an actual  _ remedy _ to something. Luffy was an incubus, though. It only  made sense that sexual activity would soothe him more than anything. 

 

“So… You need to come, right?” Law nuzzled Luffy’s neck as lovingly as he could but the demon’s only response was to  _ snarl _ .

 

“No. I need to be  _ fucked out of my mind _ . Enough to forget all this  _ tension. _ ”

 

That could be arranged.

 

In one quick movement, Law’s fingers were in Luffy’s hair, yanking his head back with an affirmative cry of delightful pain. The man’s mouth nipped down the exposed neck, making Luffy moan and tug against the invisible restraints as Law worked his way down. Luffy arched forward both in relief and pleasure. 

 

“I want more of this.” Luffy wheezed.

 

“Hold on a sec.” The man mumbled against Luffy’s collarbone before pulling away to recline the driver’s seat just enough so they had a little more space to move between them. That also gave him a slightly better view of the naked body on his lap. And holy hell was he thankful he let this happen.

 

Luffy looked like a sinful offering being presented to his human. Under half-lidded eyelids were blown pupils. Down his love-bitten neck, Law could see small marks from where his mouth had been. His sexy pink-splashed chest heaved heavier with each breath, causing the man’s eyes to eyes flicker towards the demon’s hardened nipples. And, oh, were they  _ begging _ to be tweaked and licked. So what was Law to do but comply? 

 

“This okay?” Law pinched Luffy’s nipples, twisting gently as he watched Luffy pant and nod helplessly.

 

“Harder…!”

 

Harder?

 

Law was hesitant at first but the way Luffy’s head had fallen back like he was praying for the pain made Law pinch harder. So he did. And  _ sweet heavens _ , the high-pitched “Yesss!” that erupted from the demon was intense and went so fucking  _ fine _ with how Luffy’s hips jerked forward like he couldn’t help it. Something hot and sticky distracted Law for a while. Did Luffy come? Just from that? No, he couldn’t possibly climax yet.

Could he…?

 

But Luffy was whining “please” before he could even look down. So Law focused on sliding his steady hands across Luffy’s sides, pushing the boy a bit higher so his chest was levelled with Law’s face. It was a bit uncomfortable but the ecstatic coos that Luffy made after Law’s first few licks told him it was well worth the trouble. 

 

Between his legs, Law could feel his hardness starting to complain against his clothes. It didn’t take a genius to figure that Luffy’s wet erection brushing against Law’s skin contributed to  _ keeping _ him hard. Eager to feed his eyes with something erotic, the man glanced down and was not disappointed by Luffy’s throbbing, needy cock glistening at the tip. The man licked his lips subconsciously upon seeing so much drops and streaks precum—or was it really just precu—on both of their stomachs. Luffy had leaked so much, Law wasn’t sure if he’d climaxed already. 

 

“ _ Law _ !”

 

The incubus’ loud complaint snapped Law to attention and had his body moving on its own before he could process another thought. The man found his mouth latched onto Luffy’s shoulder before he knew it, sucking another mark on his skin that made the demon moan in encouragement.

 

“Stop spacing out you—Nnnaahh!”

 

Something about Luffy’s tone made Law’s hand immediately grab Luffy’s cock with  _ such accuracy _ . The boy squirmed and fidgeted as he moved against his human, his voice cracking and practically choking on his last few words. 

 

“Are you ordering me around?” Law ran a thumb across the wet slit and all the incubus’ reply was to shudder. “Don’t order me around, Luffy.”

 

A small “but please” eventually fell from Luffy’s swollen lips as he bucked his hips upward and forward, pushing his dick into Law’s fist because  _ god, _ he’d waited for this the entire damn day. Law smirked but started stroking nonetheless but it had only taken three pumps for Luffy to be already quivering on his lap, spilling his hot seed onto their skins while panting and cursing through his release.

 

“Already...?” Law mumbled as Luffy slumped forward, still trembling, hands still suspended above him and fingers loosening slightly from the tight fists he’d been making.

 

“M-more...” Luffy whispered breathily against Law’s ear, sucking his earlobe for good measure. “I need more, Law...”

 

True enough, Luffy was still  _ hard _ . And still  _ dripping. _

 

The man’s eyes flickered towards Luffy’s hands above him. Worry crept back into his mind as he thought about blood flow or lack thereof in his boyfriend’s arms but a soft, warm, and wet tongue slowly grazed the shell of his ear. 

 

“ _ More. _ ” That heated, breathy whisper effectively dissolved half of Law’s concerns.

 

The way that one word was said reminded Law that what he had on his lap was an  _ incubus _ . Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to indulge in this for a bit? It seemed to be the only option anyway.

 

“Well, you’d better want more.” Law whispered smugly as he did whatever he could to get his already open shirt off. “I haven’t come yet and I’m not done with you either.”

 

Luffy nodded quickly, body shuddering, and toes curling in excitement because yes, yes,  _ yes _ , fucking  _ yes _ ! He wasn’t sure what his human had planned in this position but Luffy was willing to contort himself for Law if he had to.

 

“You know...” Law shrugged, gently placed his balled up shirt near the hand brake after he’d used it to wipe Luffy’s come off their skin. “If you could have just waited for us to take this upstairs then I’d have gladly sucked you off but—”

 

“Oh my god,  _ Law _ !” Luffy pulled back violently, swaying and shaking as he struggled against his restraints in a failed attempt to grab Law’s dick and teach him a lesson. “This is not the time for that! I need you to—”

 

“Shut up.” Law grabbed him fiercely by the jaw. “ _ What _ did I tell you about trying to order me around?”

 

“Mmmh.” Luffy whined but he was neither scared nor threatened. All he could see from Law’s dominant fiery eyes was  _ affection _ . 

 

“Use me, Law.  _ Please _ .”

 

Law smirked and then licked his lips. Luffy just about  _ melted _ .

 

”Then be a good boy and kiss me.”

 

Oh, Luffy did  _ not _ need to be told twice. His mouth opened slowly, leaning forward as Law met him halfway, their tongues dancing before their lips could even firmly lock with each other. A beautiful moan escaped the demon’s throat and the man drank all of it as selfishly as he could.

 

Law’s hands started to move slowly over Luffy’s wiry neck, thumbs tracing his collarbone reminding the demon of his human’s unmatched talent of exploration. The mere thought of it made Luffy’s heart thump in anticipation as large palms slid down his body, caressing his thighs and slithering towards his back. His breath hitched when Law’s long, slender fingers dug into his ass so possessively. It was still too “gentle” for Luffy’s tastes but he’d take what he can. His host can learn in time.

 

Luffy gasped in silent apology for being distracted when Law roughly pulled them closer. The human smirked into the kiss, his tongue swiping ruthlessly inside Luffy’s mouth enough to distract the demon from the two fingers pushing into his entrance without warning.

 

“Oh, shi—!”

 

The small demon’s body jolted, hips trembling, eyes closing tightly as he hissed his appreciation without shame. Law wasn’t aware he was smiling smugly when his fingers pressed and spread, moving in and out of Luffy’s tightness in a rhythm that he knew his naughty little demon loved.

 

“You fucking  _ devil _ , Law, you…!” Luffy tugged at his arms again, forgetting momentarily that he was bound by mana at his wrists. He wanted so much to grab onto Law’s shoulders, to lean onto him, feel their bodies pressed together as those delightful fingers roughly moved however it wanted. But all he could do was form fists until his knuckles went white and move his hips to match the shocks from the satisfying digits invading his body.

 

And, oh, it hadn’t even taken a long while of getting fingered before Luffy could feel his orgasm building already. He was about to succumb to another release when he felt Law moving oddly. He was trying to do something between their bodies and it was only when Luffy opened his eyes to look did he realize that he’d closed them at all. 

 

The demon looked down. Law had freed his cock from the confines of his boxers. 

 

“Oh my…!” The demon licked his lips, his tongue itching to taste the dripping essence from the pink head of Law’s hardness. He released a loud and prolonged moan, trying to keep his eyes open, to keep his orgasm at bay. He needed to stare at Law’s cock so his brain could make the connection with the fingers that were pushing into him with more fervency than Luffy thought was possible in this position. But all of his thoughts and self-control quickly dissipated when Law pushed their bodies closer, fingers wrapping around both their erections and thank heavens for sweet,  _ sweet _ friction.

 

“L-Law, s-sunshine, honey—Oh!—I-if you do that, I’m going to come all over... A-ah! L-Law…!”

 

“Yeah?” Law asked, dragging his tongue across Luffy’s collarbone as he kept on moving his tattooed hand over their cocks. Luffy nodded feeling a strain on his elbows as he tried to wriggle free from being bound to the car ceiling. He knew it was no use but feeling himself helplessly struggle against Law’s mana while both his hands worked its magic on his body made him feel so vulnerable and  _ owned _ . By  _ Law _ . And the mere thought of that had his cock dripping more as his knees shook in desire. It was hopeless. He was going to come again.

 

Luffy drew in a sharp breath and grit his teeth, pulling his arms down again without progress, feeling Law lick across his skin as he spiraled into another climax. The boy pushed his hips, opened his mouth, half-screaming and half-gasping as his body shook marvelously for the second time.

 

Law grunted in surprise because his incubus had come hard  _ again _ —harder this time, even—in just  _ minutes _ since he’d last climaxed. What the fuck? He’d barely done anything. Was his incubus  _ broken _ or something!? He knew he should be asking if Luffy was okay but all he could do was be  _ immensely turned on. _

 

“Now that’s just...” Law mumbled as he pulled his fingers out and his other hand reached for the balled up shirt he had temporarily stashed near the hand brake.

 

“Oh  _ god _ .” Was Luffy’s only reply as Law cleaned up the sticky mess between them. “Oh god, Law,  _ more _ .”

 

Law clicked his tongue.

 

“ _ More! _ ” Luffy practically hollered a tantrum, wriggling on Law’s lap, and the man could almost not believe how his incubus was  _ leaking again _ .

 

“Fucking damn it!” Law grabbed Luffy by the hips to stop him from moving but the demon kept on whining, trying to kick as if he could just sit on Law’s dick and fuck himself without any problem or assistance. So wild! Law would love to take his time one day to actually  _ cuff him to the bed _ if only Luffy’s monstrous strength wouldn’t rip the headboard right off. 

 

But back to the task at hand, the man grunted and pushed himself up, sucking on Luffy’s lower lip to distract him from his sexual tantrum and that seemed to work. Luffy’s voice died into a small whimper as he let Law kiss him to submission.

 

“I  _ still _ haven’t come yet, you hear me?” Law whispered into Luffy’s mouth, taking one last swipe of his tongue across Luffy’s lip who lost no time to start complaining again.

 

“Fuck meeeeee…”

 

Argh, for the love of— _ Really? _ Selfish as always!

 

But the way Luffy mewled that request was downright irresistible. That or Law’s dick was starting to think for his entire body. Fine, then. They had other shit to do after this anyway so they might as well ride orgasm waves and be done with it. Law grumbled as he aligned his insanely aroused demon over his dripping erection. And if Luffy thought Law was going to be nice and careful, he’d better think again.

 

“I’m  _ seriously _ going to fuck you.”

 

Law felt the need to say that.

 

“Mmmh, yesss, fina— _ Ahgk _ !” The demon’s hiss ended in a choke of feelings as Law brought his hips down on his shaft with so much for and without warning.

 

And  _ oohhh _ , holy horny heaven and hells,  _ yes _ . It was  _ marvelous _ being inside Luffy today. It was so abso-fucking-lutely  _ sensational _ that Law’s plan of “not being careful” backfired magnificently. It didn’t matter if that made sense. What mattered was the merciless desire washing over them right now.

 

If Law didn’t understand how fucking horny Luffy had been the whole time, well,  _ he did now _ . It was like all of Luffy’s feelings linked to Law’s own mind that the man was gnashing his own teeth as he held back from clawing against Luffy’s skin. The sexual hunger was so god damn  _ raw _ that Law thought “raw” wasn’t even the proper word for it anymore. Being inside Luffy was amazing. It was almost like being inside him for the very first time, if not better. And it had Law losing his mind so that he was harshly driving his cock up inside the small demon, bruising his skin with his grip in the process.

 

Oh, but Luffy wasn’t one to complain about that, no. Not with Law hitting his prostate deliciously with every rough and hungry thrust. The demon pulled against his restraints once more, fangs becoming prominent, irises flashing red, and then suddenly he was coming again—fucking  _ again _ , Law couldn’t believe it—hot streaks of white landing on their skins for the third time in a short while.

 

“You little…!” The smirk was all too evident in Law’s tone but he couldn’t stop even if hell froze over. Law’s hands moved frantically across Luffy’s soft, bare, and shuddering thighs, wondering if he wanted to stop a bit after that climax but, no. Stopping was the last thing in Luffy’s mind. Being rocked by Law’s hunger had him moaning and mumbling incoherent things as he continuously brought himself up and down on the man’s length. He had done too much thinking in one day to comprehend anything else but Law’s hardness in his ass. He had been in dire need of this  _ hours ago _ . Now all he wanted to do was  _ ride _ Law’s dick so his beloved human could shoot every drop of come into him because he fucking  _ deserved it _ .

 

“Shit, baby, mmm!” Luffy’s words sounded wet and god damn it if Law didn’t drive his cock into Luffy as deep and hard as he could.

 

“Scream for me, Luffy.” Law’s growl was so possessively feral that it had Luffy’s mind going in circles of pleasure. “Say you want it.  _ Talk _ , god damn it!”

 

Oh, that could be done. With  _ much pleasure _ .

 

“Yes! Fuck yes, I want it, Law! I want your cock!” Luffy quite literally  _ howled _ as he wildly bounced on Law’s lap, fucking himself as good as he could get with Law’s hips thrusting up, oh, so deliciously. Luffy’s arms were quivering and the small of his back hit the steering wheel every now and then but he could not bring himself to care.

 

“I want to come! Give me more! I want it! I  _ need _ it! I  _ love it _ !”

 

_ I love you _ .

 

Luffy bit his lip, swallowing those three words before they managed to escape and ruin everything.

 

Fuck, no, brain. _ Not now. _ Not in the middle of sex or Law might take it the wrong way. Not when his human was staring at him with those intense, passionate orbs that made Luffy gnash his teeth and screw his eyes shut.

 

Luffy absolutely  _ loved _ being subdued by this man.

 

“I’m…” Law panted, his breath fanning over Luffy’s skin. “...R-really fucking close.”

 

Luffy didn’t need to be told that. He knew. What was interesting, however, was how Law’s life essence was running all over Luffy right now, marking him, claiming him, making damn sure that everyone knew just who the hell Luffy belonged to. If Law had any skill or knowledge to control this energy then maybe they’d have tons of fun with it. Some other day, maybe. Sabo’s human could teach him perhaps.

 

The smell of Law’s mana made him want to feed desperately, to taste Law’s blood, to feel the heat of his skin against his tongue. Luffy leaned forward hungrily and instinctively, but the restraints above his head pulled him back. The demon growled and hissed, too blinded by so much pleasure and frustration to keep him from forming words as he threw his head back and—

 

“A-ah! Law!”

 

Luffy’s thoughts had probably made its way into Law’s disarrayed consciousness because the man was now biting against Luffy’s exposed throat, sucking against his skin as he nibbled with just enough pressure to make Luffy roar.

 

There was something about being bitten by Law instead of the other way around that sent Luffy coming  _ loud and hard _ in a spiraling mess of love and lust. In that instant, the mana that bound his wrists dissipated, letting his arms and body fall forward. His world continued to shake as his orgasm washed over him like a blast of midday sunlight. Luffy clung onto Law’s shoulders, feeling fingers dig into his back as his lithe body arched forward against the man that held him as he screamed.

 

“L-Luffy… F-feed...” Law panted and it took less than a second for Luffy’s brain to follow through and sink his teeth into Law’s neck so that it was the man’s turn to roar his orgasm. 

 

At that point, Luffy was incapable of doing anything else but to feed and ride Law’s dick faster, faster, faster— _ more, yes, more _ —not even caring what his legs hit or where his feet landed. The driver’s seat was making bouncy, creaking sounds and the car felt like it was shaking but Law was too busy shooting his own come into Luffy’s tight hotness to care.

 

The taste of his blood was particularly superb today. It was like being bathed in light while drinking stars, holy shit! Luffy’s never had a taste of a first-rate warlock’s mana but he was willing to bet that it tasted like Law’s.

 

“You’re—Lu—Nngghh…!”

 

Oh, his human’s orgasming voice was so  _ nice _ , Luffy thought, as he detached his mouth. His body fell forward again, breathing loudly as his boyfriend made a few final thrusts.

 

Damn.

 

For a few moments, there was nothing more than the sound of their breathing as they reveled in the aftermath of their climax, not even bothering to pull out as the air of sex around them settled down. Luffy enjoyed how Law’s heart felt against the one he had in his chest. Luffy leaned against his boyfriend cozily, feeling his human breathe into his hair. 

 

“Holy hell...” Luffy whispered as he felt Law’s fingers through his raven locks. “That was amazingly refreshing…”

 

“Let me see your hands.” Law decided not to comment on Luffy’s definition of “refreshing” in favor of checking his safety. Luffy’s hands felt so small and frail in Law’s large palms as he thoughtfully ran a thumb across the boy’s wrist. There were no marks but he’d rather be sure.

 

“Does it hurt?”

 

“No. I’m okay.” Luffy murmured, watching Law’s face fill with gentle concern. Luffy wanted that kind of expression to be only for him. It was selfish but he didn’t care.

 

“Are you sure?” Law brought his boyfriend’s small hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. “Did I hurt you anywhere?”

 

“I-I’m fine. Thanks.” Luffy had blushed furiously and Law assumed wild sex did that to his incubus. He was possibly and understandably too sensitive after having so many orgasms in such short intervals. Maybe Law shouldn’t be touching Luffy too much. 

 

“That’s good.” Law leaned back and sighed deeply as Luffy buried his face in the crook of his neck, replaying how Law kissed his hand. There was a nice, warm tingling sensation on the spot where Law’s lips had brushed and Luffy wasn’t sure why but he liked that. He liked that a lot. 

 

“Why did my mana do that?” Law was saying now, one thumb carefully massaging Luffy’s wrist despite his decision not to touch him too much. “It wasn’t my intention to tie you up at all.”

 

“Really?” Luffy closed his eyes. “It wasn’t?”

 

“I just wanted your…” Law paused, being mindful of his words because he didn’t want to accidentally snap Luffy’s arms with his mana this time because he was careless. “Your hands were…”

 

“It seems it just does what you tell it to do whether subconsciously or not.” Luffy explained softly, shifting to a more comfortable position without making Law pull out of him. Luffy still wanted him there. “It happens to strong people. Don’t worry. It’s fine now.”

 

“I don’t want to do it again.” Law frowned.

 

“Tying me up?”

 

“Using mana without knowing it!” The man wanted to pinch Luffy’s nose but thought against it as soon as Luffy started chuckling.

 

“So you  _ liked _ having me tied up?”

 

Because, seriously, that opened so many possibilities.

 

“Fucking hell, what’s wrong with you?” The man grumbled and huffed, steadying the smaller body on his lap, still not bothering to pull out his dick or fix his uncomfortable jeans. ”I just got home and we already...”

 

“But I  _ missed you _ .” Luffy sighed heavily, trying to somehow look at Law without moving his head. “Didn’t you miss me?”

 

_ A lot. _

 

But Law said nothing and rubbed his nose against Luffy’s ear. How could his demon smell so nice?

 

_ Tell him he smells nice. He’d like that. _

 

“Have you showered?”

 

Law kicked himself inwardly a thousand times in the span of half a second. What in the nine levels of hell was that stupid question? He was bad at this. He was so  _ terribly terrible _ at this.

 

“Yeah, I did. But  _ we _ could if you want to.” Luffy was too busy tracing the markings across Law’s chest to notice that Law was trying to recover from embarrassment. “We. Us. Together. At the same time. You’re a smart man. You know what I mean.”

 

“No, I don’t.” Law ran a hand down his face in an attempt to reset his dignity. “Are you capable of calming your demonic sex drive for a while so we can go on a date tonight?”

 

A  _ what?! _

 

“What!?” Luffy blasted as he sat up in surprise, big round eyes shining at Law.  If he had a tail, it would’ve been swishing back and forth excitedly because the bubbling excitement in him was too fricken  _ much _ to handle. “What was that!?”

 

Luffy’s brain had to clear every bit of unimportant shit in his head just so the words “we could go on a date tonight” could echo in his skull over and over again. He had to check if he heard it right,  _ in that order _ , if Law had indeed said it, and if Law was talking to  _ him _ .

 

“What did you just say!?”

 

The man fidgeted from the second outburst, unsure what to make of his demon’s reaction. His fangs were protruding again and his eyes were flashing red. Was he mad? Or excited? Or offended? Was his incubus really broken from all that orgasming? What the hell?

 

“I… I mean…” Law wasn’t sure what to say exactly as Luffy’s very expectant eyes bore through him. He initially thought the demon would be happy but the way his fangs flashed made Law rethink. “I just thought… Actually, I know it’s such short notice and I…”

 

Luffy was going to die of anticipation.

 

_ He’s asking me out. He’s asking me out! _

 

The demon was trying his absolute best not to smile, which made his face warp into an expression that Law absolutely could  _ not _ read.

 

“Well, if you’re too tired, it can wait.”

 

“It?” Luffy tilted his head.

 

“It.” Law nodded. “Us. Going on a date. It can wa—”

 

“No, Law!” Luffy breathed through his nose like an angry bull as he punched the passenger seat with enough force for it to  _ shake _ . “ _ The end of the world _ can wait. Our date  _ absolutely cannot _ !” Luffy shook his head vigorously, making cross gestures with his arms so Law knew he meant  _ serious business _ . 

 

Didn’t he know how Luffy would’ve willingly resulted to _murder_ if that meant he could on a date with Law before they were bonded?! What was this man thinking _postponing_ such important life matters!? Absolutely _ridiculous_!

 

“But…”

 

But Luffy’s smile had fangs and his eyes were vividly red and Law was  _ so confused _ . 

 

“What are we doing? Where are we going?” Luffy excitedly brought his hands to his mouth, swaying left and right, eyes squinting, red cheeks blowing up, and it was only then that Law realized that his demon was actually  _ excited _ . 

 

“Tell me the plan!” Luffy chirped happily. “Tell me!”

 

“Stop wriggling so much! I’m still inside you!” Law flicked a finger against Luffy’s forehead and sandwiched his little face between his large palms to force his lips into a pout.

 

“Turr-muuiiih…!” Luffy insisted, his eyes smiling delightfully. His brain was still chanting “Date! Date! Date!”

 

“If I tell you, it’s no longer a surprise.” The man kissed Luffy’s cute pouty lips and let go of his cheeks before rubbing his nose against Luffy’s ear. “Or you don’t like surprises?”

 

“I do! I like surprises!” Luffy chuckled, nudging his head closer towards Law’s because his human nuzzling him was one of his favorite things. “Especially from you!”

 

“Good.” Law smiled and planted a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s temple. “But what were you so stressed about? You never told me.”

 

“Oh, that…” Luffy blinked thoughtfully. Worry pinched his heart a bit but the way Law brushed his hair away from his face made him tuck all his anxieties away. 

  
“I just…” Luffy rubbed his nose against Law’s. “I just didn’t understand the garden is all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand it’s out! Chapter 19’s draft is kinda done. I just need to look it over again so it’s going to be out tomorrow or in a couple of hours if my brain doesn’t fizzle.
> 
> Sorry to have you wait for so long. I’m a bit frustrated with how this chapter had twenty-six other routes but I’m pretty happy with this one. It’s very long but I think it’s the best route. So if it’s not too much to ask, please leave a review. I’d really like to know what you think and I enjoy learning about your theories (mainly because I know what’s going to happen ahaha)
> 
> Anyway, thanks a lot for waiting. I’m quite happy I managed to finally finish this and get this posted. Again, I’d love to hear from you. Feedback is always appreciated and helpful. Ifyou can’t leave a message here, you can find me on Tumblr. My username is xaidrawsandwrites. You can ask Incubus Luffy a question there, too, if you want. But only if it won’t ruin the plot. Also, I enjoy drawing him. Shameless plugging. Sorry. 
> 
> So, yeah. I’m going to have dinner after posting this and then work on finalizing the next chapter. Thanks!


	19. Friday Food Fest

It seemed Luffy didn’t understand that them showering at the same time was an  _ option _ , not an  _ obligation _ . Making him  _ accept _ this took some time of coaxing, if not threatening, with Luffy making all sorts of compromises that Law couldn’t understand anymore. He had stubbornly refused to cover his hickeys, too, insisting that it was  _ his body _ and if Law didn’t want people to see the marks then maybe he shouldn’t have put it there in the first place. Law could cover his hickeys if he wanted to but Luffy was flaunting his. Love bites, apparently, were “a thing of pride” for Luffy (Or all incubi? Law didn’t ask.) and the mere suggestion of covering them was offensive. It was a compromise, he said,  _ a compromise _ . “Compromise” obviously meant something else to Luffy than what it  _ actually meant _ . 

 

The car ride proved to be even more difficult. The vehicle still smelled of sex, according to Luffy, which imminently made him horny as fuck  _ again _ . Law had lost count of how many times he had to swat the small hands that tried to reach for his crotch. He also had to constantly tell Luffy that having sex or receiving blowjobs while driving (“I can finish you before the light turns green!”) would be the best way to get themselves  _ humiliated _ or  _ killed _ . And if Law had to choose? He’d rather the latter.

 

“Stop driving, then.” Luffy reasoned like the answer had been there the whole time. Law wanted to slap the back of his head if only he wasn’t having ideas of bending Luffy over the hood of his car. So fucking inappropriate.

 

After the most challenging drive of Law’s life, they finally arrived at their destination—Carta, Dressrosa, home of the popular Friday Food Fest. They were still a good distance from the festive food court but the number of cars and people walking towards the area was significant enough to make Luffy  _ keep quiet _ as he tried to observe. But when the venue’s lights came into view, the demon excitedly shrieked in his seat like an exploding firework. Law had to stop him from jumping out of the car.

 

“The Friday Food Fest!” Luffy squealed loudly, kicking in his seat as he brought his knees up to his chest. “We’re really going to the Friday Food Fest!”

 

“Wait, so…” Law glanced at Luffy next to him and then looked at the festive food court a good distance away. “You know this?”

 

“Are you kidding?!” Luffy flailed his arms, almost hitting the rearview mirror in the process. “I came here often before I started stalking you! I barely missed a Friday!”

 

“O-oh…” Law blinked at the road and shrugged. “Guess it wasn’t a surprise, then.”

 

Yeah. Of  _ course _ , Luffy would’ve known the place. He was a creature of the night, sex, and  _ food _ . Why  _ wouldn’t _ he know of the Friday Food Fest? Law wanted to slap his forehead. What was he expecting? Why was he so bad at setting up dates?

 

But he could learn, couldn’t he? They were in a relationship now. A real serious exclusive romantic  _ mutualism _ . For real. Not for show. Law had been repeating this to himself for the past few hours but it still wasn’t sinking in.

 

“What are you suddenly looking so glum for?” Luffy mumbled, tilting his head at Law as the man tried to look for a place to park.

 

“What are you talking about?” Law frowned slightly, keeping his eyes on the road. “Finding parking has never been a fun affair.”

 

Luffy hummed curiously for a while before nodding to himself and—to Law’s sheer horror—casually opened the door and attempted to  _ step out of the car _ . While moving. Lovely. His demon really had a thousand and one ways of making Law lose his mind and dignity.

 

There was a few good seconds of Law yelling for Luffy to close the door and get his ass back in the car as well as Luffy telling Law to calm down because he was just going to get parking space. Whatever that meant, Law wasn’t willing to risk finding out.

 

“But the parking space is making you upset!”

 

“No! Not having you next to me is what’s making me upset, Luffy!”

 

Actually, what Law meant to say was that Luffy should stay in the passenger seat but that came out weird. That did it, though. After a touched, sparkly-eyed gasp, the demon closed the door with haste and expertly slinked like a giggling cat between him and the steering wheel. Fine. It was easier to deal with Luffy trying to snuggle him while he tried to park compared to having to explain to the cops why his tiny boyfriend leapt out of a moving vehicle. The main drawback of that was how it replayed scenes of them having sex earlier, promptly alerting Law to tell his dick to calm down. It was an admirable effort on his part to resist considering he had an incubus on his lap. That was the same excuse Law told himself after he let Luffy give him a blow job as a “prize” for finding parking space on his own. God damn it.

 

“The Friday Food Fest!” Luffy was now squealing loudly in a sing-song voice as Law locked his car with a distinct beep via his small remote. His demon had run back to him just as Law turned around, almost accidentally headbutting the human thanks to the giant hug Luffy had thrown. 

 

“The Friday Food Fest!”

 

“Yes, yes. We’ve established that that’s where we are.” Law moved his head away to keep Luffy’s head from hitting his chin this time.

 

“Come on, come on!” Luffy took Law’s hand, dragging him across the street and towards the food court.

 

The lights were brighter and the crowd was noisier than they looked from where Law had parked his car. The atmosphere was very lively and welcoming but Law felt rather uneasy about how there seemed to be more people than he had anticipated. Or maybe he really just wasn’t used to this much activity going on around him. He was hearing their voices in a lot of variations—laughter, yelling, giggling, whispers, and buzzing—and he kept on getting bumped by the shoulders, the elbows, the arms. It was annoying.

 

But then Luffy’s small fingers slowly locked against his and whatever was around him quieted down enough for him to tolerate.

 

“Where do we go first!?” Luffy chirped, squeezing Law’s hand as he looked around excitedly. 

 

“I don’t know. I’ve only been here once before.” Law replied carefully as he looked around. Someone’s shoulder hit his from behind, prompting a brief exchange of apologies before Law ushered Luffy to one side away from the leg traffic. “You’re the one who’s  _ barely missed a Friday _ .”

 

“You’ve been here  _ once _ , Law!? To Friday Food Fest!?  _ Once _ !?” Luffy exclaimed and shook his head like Law had done something horribly, horribly offensive. The demon rubbed his fingers against his forehead in dismay. “I thought you were  _ smart _ !”

 

“Why, yes,  _ of course _ , you’re the smart one.” Law groaned, turning away, now brooding that this hadn’t kicked off  _ exactly _ as planned. Not that it was going  _ sour _ , but he wasn’t able to surprise Luffy like he wanted to.. “What am  _ I _ even doing here, right? It’s going to be the same with or without me. The hell did I even bring you here for anyway? Why’d I have to come along? Why did we even come here? In fa—”

 

Luffy rolled his eyes away and tugged Law towards him. Just one peck on the lips was all it took for that sentence to never continue.

 

“You know, I’d wrestle an angry bear in heat for you, but sometimes you can be so stupid.” The demon smiled and then chuckled when the human didn’t respond with anything else but a blush. Luffy hooked his arm around Law’s and pulled him forward.

 

“Come along, sunshine. Let me show you how to have fun!”

 

It was Law’s turn to roll his eyes away.

 

“Oh,  _ joy _ .”

 

Laughing was Luffy’s only reply and the demon had turned around too soon to catch the small smile Law had for him.

 

* * *

 

 

With his little demon leading the way and calming most of his nerves, Law found himself taking a better look at the environment he had been dragged deeper into. The stalls were strewn like marbles spilled all over the plaza, along the main streets and crawling into the alleys, each with their own setup of chairs and tables in front. There were also people walking around selling candies and little souvenirs that they carried on wooden trays strapped to their shoulders. The variety of food available was more diverse than Law remembered since his last visit. He remembered spotting pasta, nachos, tacos, burgers, pastries, bread (fucking what), cotton candy, hotdogs, chocolate apples, fruit salad, smoothies, iced coffee, ice cream, yogurt, chilled things, grilled things, fried things, things with soup, things with sauce, things that Law couldn’t understand anymore because he wasn’t a food person. 

 

Maybe they could come back with Sanji. And Zoro. To have double dates? 

 

A furious upcoming blush prompted Law to ask Luffy where he wanted to eat. The demon just laughed at him again with another loving mockery that only Luffy was allowed to pull off. The Friday Food Fest, according to the  _ food expert _ , wasn’t enjoyed by choosing one stall and staying there. Buying a little bit of something from as many stalls as possible was the way to go. Law, on the other hand, immediately dismissed it as  _ ridiculous _ . First off, what if their stomach couldn’t endure that  _ variety _ ? Was indigestion not a thing to be considered anymore? Secondly, if they got food poisoned, how the fuck would they even figure who the culprit was? Oh, and what about  _ allergies _ ?

 

Again, Luffy just laughed at that and kissed Law on the nose.

 

“People go to the Friday Food Fest for  _ adventure _ , sunshine.” 

 

As if that explained everything.

 

Law wanted to point out that he brought them to Friday Food Fest so they could spend time together in a different environment as a celebration for them finally being a couple. Confusing his digestive system was not part of his plans for the night. But Luffy had kissed him again before he got a sentence out. He then proceeded to drag Law all over the place, trying some of this and some of that and then “on to the next island”, as he called it. Law couldn’t decide if he wanted to kiss or chop Luffy on the forehead.

 

The first few stops of their tastebud adventures were bearable since most of it were street food—french fries, hotdog sandwiches, and corn dogs. And then they got to the fried battered quail eggs dipped in sweet and sour sauce. But that was tolerable. Even the chicken gizzards and intestines were fine until they came across the god forsaken grilled chicken feet with sauce. 

 

“Luffy, for the love of god, I am not eating this!” Law drew his head away as Luffy tried to poke at him with the cooked bird claw of death. “Stop it!”

 

“Unprofessional!” Luffy huffed, stomping a foot as he continued to give Law the grilled chicken feet that had somehow been impaled in a long wooden stick. ”How dare you take me here and not eat with me!”

 

“What? How is this unprofessional?” Law glared, swatting away Luffy’s culinary attack by the arm. The demon grumbled at him, but insisted no further and started to eat the stupid bony foot. Law wondered what was so good about sucking the  _ scarce _ meat and spitting bones afterwards.

 

The stall they stopped at next sold more grilled innards, feet, and other unusual body parts of chicken, pork, and beef. They even had  _ blood on a stick _ , which didn’t make sense at first but then it eventually did. It looked like squishy, spongy very dark grey-ish  _ blood clot  _ cubes that were so interesting, Law had no qualms trying that out the first time. And then several more times. With vinegar. How come he had no problems with blood and innards but had protests about  _ chicken feet _ ?

 

“Are you sure this isn’t your first time here?” Law asked as Luffy dragged him off to their next adventure. “Your excitement is like a first-timer’s.”

 

“Never been here  _ mingling _ . Posing as a human. With a human.” Luffy said, eyes initially focused on the stalls but stopped to look back at Law. “With you.”

 

_ Same. Tell him you only went here because of him. _

 

“I thought so.” Law glanced away.

 

_ God damn it. _

 

He had to find a way to make his inner monologue actually become  _ audible. _

 

“When us demons come down to this place, we try not to let the humans notice.” Luffy continued, making faces and trying to stretch his neck so he could see beyond a group of people that passed them by. “Especially the warlocks.”

 

When who  _ what _ now? Law almost stopped walking but Luffy tugged him forward as soon as he slowed down, making the man almost trot next to his demon in surprise.

 

“Demons?  _ Warlocks? _ ” Law leaned towards Luffy so he could whisper in his ear. ”This place has demons?  _ And  _ warlocks?”

 

Because seriously, why didn’t Luffy ever tell him? 

 

“Yes, why are you surprised?” Luffy frowned, looking at Law like he was wearing his pants on his head. “Friday Food Fest was started by a group of succubi.  _ Of course _ , there’s going to be demons.”

 

Okay.  _ What _ ? From what Law had heard, Friday Food Fest started from an entrepreneurship study being run by a group of college students, which eventually proved to be profitable. It was unclear what made the students’ stall popular enough so that people started flocking to the area whenever they set up shop but it didn’t go unnoticed. Soon, another food stall set up next to them. And then another. And then another until what was once a single stall blew up into almost a hundred stalls in the plaza. The once deserted streets and alleys slowly became spaces that were all up for rent and then boom—bi-weekly Friday Food Fest.

 

“That’s not what I’ve been told.” Law decided to walk closer to Luffy as he suspiciously looked around. He considered putting an arm around his small boyfriend’s shoulders, but didn’t. Maybe next time.  _ Surely _ , next time.

 

“Warlocks are very shrewd humans so I just don’t bother with them.” Luffy hooked his arm around Law’s elbow and dragged him towards another stall with a bright red plastic roof. “But this place has many creatures because it’s close to the demons’ mountain.”

 

“You mean Punk Hazard?”

 

“Yyyep!” Luffy smiled brightly. “I’m happy you know it.”

 

There was no reason for Law not to know it. Punk Hazard had once been notoriously rumored to be creepy and cursed thanks to multiple reports of strange occurrences. A wide number of cases ranging from missing people to deaths had been officially filed and to this day remained unsolved. Victims and witnesses mostly swore that they were caused by something out of this world. The most popular culprit was the Lady of Punk Hazard.

 

“Do you know the Lady of Punk Hazard?” Law tilted his head curiously.

 

“The  _ who _ ?” Luffy had to look at Law to see if he was being serious. “The  _ what _ ?”

 

“Well, according to stories, the Lady of Punk Hazard was the spirit of a girl who belonged to a very poor family.” Law began as they slowed down. Luffy listened intently, arm still locked around Law’s. “One day, her mother decided to taker her to the mountain and abandon her there with nothing but a lantern.”

 

“That’s mean.” Luffy frowned. “Then what happened?”

 

“That depends on the version of the story.” Law shrugged before using his thumb to wipe some sauce off the corner of Luffy’s lip. “Some say her spirit is still trying to find her way out of the mountain. Others believe she’s playing tricks on humans so they would become forever lost in the mountain with her, too. And then there are those who say she helps people who get lost so she doesn’t suffer the same fate she did.”

 

When Law first heard of the story, he was pretty sure it was just the light and mist playing tricks on the eyes of people but now that  _ Luffy _ was talking about Punk Hazard, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

 

“Ehh…” Luffy sounded quite amused contrary to what the man was expecting. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard of that.”

 

“Maybe because she doesn’t exist.” Law said as he watched Luffy’s arm uncoil from his. “I always thought people just imagined her from the mist or something.”

 

“Or maybe she’s moved!” Luffy took Law by the hand again and started looking for his next food adventure. “Demons change locations when it gets boring where they live.”

 

“Oh.”

 

_ What about you? _

 

The question was stuck in Law’s throat.

 

“But I’m different.” Luffy stopped and turned towards Law, hugging him by the waist and taking a deep breath into the man’s chest. “I have you.” And then he looked up with his big loving eyes. “I’m  _ never _ moving to somewhere that doesn’t have you in it.”

 

_ Even if we break the bond? _ Law thought to himself.  _ Would you leave me then? _

 

A whiff of  _ bread _ ended Law’s train of thought. He took the small demon by the hand and tugged him towards the opposite direction. This was not the time for negative thoughts. Law should focus on being with his boyfriend before he noticed any confusion in his demeanor.

 

But the demon already did. Law’s feelings had taken weird turns from fluffy to awkward to sad without Luffy knowing why. He wanted to ask if anything was wrong but had quickly forgotten that as soon as he noticed that Law was taking them towards a booth that smelled of the sea being cooked.

 

“Over here.” Law shifted so that Luffy could walk in front of him. The demon wondered why they had to walk this way until he realized that they were about to go through a small but dense crowd of people. Law’s hands were on his shoulders, the man’s chest against his back as he nudged Luffy forward. Law also took the initiative of carefully pushing away stray bags, jackets, or folded umbrellas that would otherwise have hit Luffy. 

 

Wow. Had Law always been like this? Oh, but who cared? The demon felt significantly smaller with what his beloved human was doing but he also felt really protected. And loved. The last bit was probably his imagination, but he’d take what he can. Luffy smiled to himself.

 

With mumbles of “excuse me, excuse me”, Law kept on carefully nudging Luffy forward until they had made their way into the front of the small ring of people surrounding a large pan of sizzling oil. Luffy could see breaded squid rings and tentacles trying to peek out the hot hissing golden cooking oil that smelled of breading, spices, and, according to Law, “so much bad cholesterol”. 

 

Luffy blinked twice before he burst into loud and crisp laughter at Law’s exact choice of words mainly because “cholesterol” sounded funny. The vendor had glared at them, but gave them a stick each anyway so they could poke at the cooking sea food like some sort of street kebab dunked in their choice of sauce. Luffy had asked for another stick and had it stacked to the tip before Law paid for the food and they strolled off. The vendor seemed to be glad to be rid of them.

 

“Oh! So warlocks can die of bad conjestedol, too.” Luffy was talking with his mouth full. “And second hand smoke?”

 

“If too much and if they’re careless, yeah.” Law nodded, a bit glad that he was actually talking about something intellectual with his boyfriend without getting bored. “They’re still just humans after all.”

 

“Warlocks shouldn’t be classified as humans.” The demon moved out of the way of a group of running children. “They’re unfair. It’s confusing. They need to wear name tags.”

 

“Can’t you tell which humans are warlocks?” Law mumbled at his boyfriend who was chewing on squid as he looked between the two sticks he had in each of his hands. Luffy had consecutively chomped off three pieces of squid rings, chewed noisily, and swallowed before answering.

 

“Not until you see how they manipulate mana.”

 

“You can’t tell just by feeling their mana?” Law asked before biting off a chunk of tentacles. It felt weird in his mouth but it also tasted good. How could food be so conflicting?

 

“ _ Everyone _ has mana, Law.” Luffy was talking while chewing. He had already wolfed down an entire stick, which Law took and threw it into a trash bin a few paces away. Luffy’s second stick was also squid-less when Law had turned back to him. The man grunted, finished his own squid-on-a-stick and walked back to the trash bin.

 

“Everything that  _ lives _ has mana.” Luffy said as soon as Law was next to him again.

 

_ Even the plants in your garden _ . But Luffy decided to keep that to himself.

 

“Mm-hmm.” The human didn’t even look before pulling out a paper napkin he had stuffed in his pocket earlier. Without a word, Law started to wipe the sauce and bits of crumbs off Luffy’s face. The demon smiled at him because the last time Law did this, Luffy ended up getting a nice kiss. Who knew if he’d be lucky again this time?

 

“What makes warlocks different, then?” Law asked again.

 

“Eh?” Luffy assumed he wasn’t getting a kiss after all. “Human beings are only considered warlocks when they know how to manipulate mana  _ at will. _ Just because you can manipulate mana doesn’t make you a warlock. You need to have... Warlock-y ways.” 

 

Luffy wasn’t sure why he liked Law asking him questions about demons and warlocks. Being an incubus, he thought he preferred cuddling, kissing, making out, and being all lovey-dovey if sex and orgasms were off the table. Having this conversation with his human made him realize it felt good being the one who had more knowledge of something for a change. 

 

“Demons, then.” Law said with one final brush of the paper napkin before he crumpled and tossed it into the open trash bin. “Can you tell me which ones are demons?”

 

“What for?” Luffy frowned. “You have one right next to you. Why do you need to look at others?”

 

“So I can fucking  _ stay away _ .”

 

Point taken. Luffy shrugged. 

 

Demons were far easier for other demons to spot, it turned out. In fact, Law’s next few minutes were spent telling Luffy to be discreet about who he was pointing at because he had no intention of getting attacked by thirty kinds of offended Bellamies. Luffy managed to distinguish five different kinds of demons and three lesser vampires prowling about. Nothing about them looked out of the ordinary but what Law noticed that all of them had in common was their mannerism of looking at other people’s necks.

 

“Are demons really supposed to be alone?” Law passed a glance at the ninth creature Luffy had just whispered about.

 

“They’re hunting.” Luffy said casually. “You wouldn’t want any competition when hunting.”

 

“Hunting?” Law moved closer mostly so he could whisper closer to Luffy’s ear. “You mean right now? Here?”

 

The way Law’s own demon stared at a stall of steamed buns while he nodded made Law second guess if he had actually heard the question properly. Come to think of it, before being bonded Law, Luffy had to hunt, too, right? He was an incubus. Did he also have to—No, don’t think about it. Law decided to change the topic.

 

“So the reports about the missing people…” 

 

An approaching trio of boisterous high school boys kept Law from finishing his sentence in favor of tugging Luffy towards him. His large tattooed hand covered the side of Luffy’s head, tilting it away from the bag that one of the teens had carelessly slung over his shoulder.

 

“Watch it.” Law grumbled and glared but none of the teenagers were able to notice. 

 

“What is it?” Luffy looked up blinking. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing.” Law shook his head as he led Luffy by the hand so they could continue walking. “So the missing people. The deaths. Those were all really demons’ work?”

 

Luffy looked confusedly at him for a while as if to ask him what he was talking about. Law was about to tell him about consecutive reports of Punk Hazard-related disappearances and deaths from a good while back but Luffy seemed to figure that out on his own. That or he’d heard Law’s thoughts.

 

“Oh,  _ that _ .” Luffy laughed like Law was being silly. “I think the culprits were a pack of stupid werewolves. Demons don’t kill humans unless necessary because we get hunted down. It’s an unspoken rule.”

 

“A  _ pack _ ? I thought demons hunted alone.”

 

It frightened Law to think what would happen if they got attacked by a pack of revenge-hungry Bellamies. Or if what stormed his house was a group of hot-headed Ace’s. Or a bunch of female Sabo’s.

 

“Werewolves are not demons, munchkin.”

 

“Not demons?” Law made it a point to modulate his voice. “What do you mean werewolves aren’t demons?”

 

“They’re just cursed humans.” Luffy elbowed Law without trying to be discreet. “Oh. Female lesser vampire. Right side near the blue swishy stall. Red shirt. Black skirt. Short hair with fake hair.”

 

Law wasn’t sure how he figured which the blue swishy stall was but he did. True enough, there was a female that fit Luffy’s exact description and if his boyfriend hadn’t pointed it out, Law would never have guessed she was a vampire.

 

“Fake hair? Oh, you mean hair extensions.” Law mumbled, half-laughing. “But why is she called lesser? Or you mean there are  _ higher _ vampires?”

 

“So they say.” Luffy decided to make a turn towards one of the alleys. It was significantly narrower than the main road so Law had to stick closely to Luffy from behind as they tried to navigate around the people, stalls, tables, and chairs.

 

“So they say?” Law held onto Luffy by the shoulders which made the demon smile widely. 

 

“Yup.” Luffy nodded more out of contentment in how he could feel Law’s body against his back again. “I don’t even know if they actually exist.”

 

“Oho?” It was odd how demons also had creatures that they considered myths. “How so?”

 

“Well, first, they’re rare as fuck so I don’t know anyone who’s actually  _ seen _ a Higher.” Luffy took a peek at a stall selling candies but got distracted by the next stall selling cinnamon bread. Law’s groan from behind, however, told him to keep walking and resume talking. “Second, vampires are all classified as undead. Lessers have died and came back to life. Highers are undead that didn’t die in the first place.” 

 

“How does  _ that _ even compute?” Law gently put his hand on the side of Luffy’s head to keep him from hitting the corner of a low signage they were going to pass by. This wasn’t the first time Luffy had felt Law’s palm against his cheek but what he just did made his face heat up. It also made him wish for more upcoming obstacles for Law to protect him from. Come on, human world, now’s the chance for your fuck ups to be of use! And there was a draped curtain beads of protect-me-from-this-my-lovely-human right on cue that Law quietly brushed away for Luffy.

 

“Undead that never died. That doesn’t make sense, Luffy.”

 

“Yeah.” Luffy almost sighed his answer but Law failed to notice as they got to the end of the alley and back into the main road. The first thing that Law noted was the smell of stir fry noodles towards one direction and the scent of steamed dumplings from another. And then a lot of other food smells bombarded his nose so he didn’t bother anymore.

 

“So how do humans die and become vampire demons?” Law tried to keep the conversation going.

 

“Vampires aren’t demons, silly.” Luffy laughed and kissed him on the cheek. Was it strange that Law was getting used to all this public displays of affection? “Vampires are… How do I put it? Undead, cursed humans.”

 

What? Just how many classifications did these things  _ have _ ? And how did anyone just become “cursed”? Law was about to ask where demons came from when an ice cream stall came into view. And Luffy, ever so enthusiastic, hurried towards it, pulling Law along as he squealed things the human couldn’t understand.

 

His little boyfriend had an attention span the size of his pinky.

 

Boyfriend.

 

Law bit his lip to keep himself from smiling. Sooner or later, he had to stop feeling mushy whenever his subconscious brought up that he wasn’t single anymore. Thankfully, Luffy was too occupied wolfing down two ice cream bars to notice. By the time he was done, the boy had sticky ice cream dripping around his fingers. Law immediately intervened to start wiping when the demon started  _ licking _ . He then dragged the boy towards the nearest outdoor washing station he could find so Luffy could properly clean his mouth and hands. 

 

“Be careful not to make a mess out of yourself when you eat.” 

 

Law found himself annoyed at the wet hand prints on Luffy’s shirt after the silly demon wiped his dripping palms on it. That did, however, effectively distracted Law from wondering if Luffy’s mouth still tasted like ice cream or if Law’s tongue would care to find out.

 

“And  _ stop doing that _ .” Law quickly swatted the arm that Luffy was wiping his wet chin off. The demon made a low sound of objection but complied when Law nodded for them to sit on an empty stone bench nearby. The human kept on grumbling from the time he had taken out his handkerchief and while he was wiping Luffy’s hands dry with it. But Luffy was more enticed by the fact that Law’s tattooed fingers were so significantly longer than his own thin ones; how he moved them precisely and carefully as if drying other people’s fingers had been his profession the entire time.

 

Oh, this was like Law tying his shoelaces. Luffy never thought shoes mattered and drying water from his hands wasn’t something he actually cared for. But Law did. And it was nice how he did these little things for Luffy. No one else had done that before. Not Ace or Sabo or Zoro or Sanji or Nami or Crocus or anyone else.

 

“Here. For when you get dirty later.” Law handed him the handkerchief. “I have the mind to ask for paper napkins. You don’t.”

 

Luffy looked at Law first before blinking thoughtfully at the small white handkerchief with black spots that was being handed to him. It looked soft and nice. And it probably smelled like Law, too, which was all the reason he needed to take the handkerchief and use it. 

 

“Thanks.” Luffy didn’t even try to hold back another smile. The cloth was still damp but that didn’t really stop him from bringing it up to his nose for a nice deep inhale. “I’ll wash it clean before I give it back. I promise.” 

 

“You don’t have to give it back. You can have it.”

 

“E-eh?” Luffy’s eyes were wide with every blink he gave Law. “It’s mine? Are you sure?”

 

Law only gave a curt nod before looking away. Aww! It was adorable how he had to pretend something was bothering him in the distance whenever he was too embarrassed about anything.

 

Luffy’s mind quickly shot back through the days they’ve been together as he looked at the handkerchief in his hands. How many things had Law given him that was pre-owned by his human? All of Luffy’s clothes were  _ borrowed _ . His underwear and his shoes were bought for him. And both of those were only given to him because he actually needed it to properly live in the human world. 

 

This handkerchief wasn’t really a necessity, was it? Law just wanted him to stay clean. And the man was willing to use disposable paper towels so that Luffy could stay neat. 

 

“This is a gift.” Luffy chuckled, still looking at the little piece of cloth that was currently the most precious thing in the world. “You gave me a gift...!”

 

Law’s usual response to confusion was to frown but Luffy’s happy voice kept the man from doing anything that would resemble anger or disappointment. He wasn’t sure what about the handkerchief made Luffy blush so prettily like that but he was happy that it did. He also felt the need to say something but he wasn’t sure what was appropriate for the moment. Give him a compliment maybe? Say he looked cute? Say “I love you”?

 

“S-so… Y-you like handkerchiefs?” 

 

Law’s inner persona practically smacked itself right in the face. Luffy, on the other hand, just looked up with sparkling eyes and a very charming smile.

 

“I do now!” Luffy threw his arms around Law and rubbed his nose against the human’s ear. “Thank you, Law! I’m very happy!”

 

What? What was going on?

 

“Y-you’re welcome?”

 

Whatever was making Luffy happy, Law  _ still _ wasn’t sure but a part of him wanted to find out so he could do it on purpose next time. The way Luffy’s small body was radiating happiness with the small shudders from his giggling made it difficult for Law to focus on anything else other than appreciating that. And then when he pulled away to unfold the handkerchief, Law almost wanted to pull him back into a hug, nuzzle him, and  _ breathe _ .

 

“This is going to be my treasure!” Luffy laughed, placing the checkered piece of cloth so that it covered his face as he looked up. “This is mine! Mine!”

 

There was something funny and endearing about how the cloth was draped over Luffy’s face so that his features were still properly highlighted in soft contours. He looked like a spotted unfinished sculpture whose mouth moved like a sock puppet’s with every word that Luffy tried to say. The way the cloth puffed up and down with every breath looked like a pulsing wave that made Law’s joints tingly because it looked both disturbing and peculiar. His eyes trailed down from his boyfriend’s covered face and down to his neck that was decorated by a train of red and purple love bites that didn’t seem to bother Law anymore. Come to think of it, had anyone noticed the hickeys at all? Law wasn’t even sure. And he didn’t care.

 

“Mahr-mahr-mahr-mahr!” 

 

What was this silly demon doing? Was he pretending to be a monster? A few days ago, Law would’ve thought it both appropriate and stupid but now it was just funny. And endearing. And charming. And cute. And… Luffy wasn’t anything like a monster. He should see what he looked like.

 

Law didn’t realize he was smiling when he took out his borrowed phone and snapped a photo of his boyfriend being ridiculous. The shutter sound went off crisply against the noise of activity around them but it was only when Law chuckled that Luffy was alerted of something going on. The demon slowly pulled the handkerchief mask off and Law realized he liked seeing Luffy’s face being unveiled like that.

 

_ You look adorable, Luffy. I love you. _

 

“You look silly, Luffy. Look at you.” Law showed him the photo on his phone. Luffy spent a second or two gaping at it, pouting like he was trying to figure out a trick. 

 

“Eh!? You can’t even tell it’s me! My face is covered!” Luffy scoffed, tilting the phone in Law’s hand like it would look better or different from a another angle. “What is the point of taking pictures if you don’t know who you’re looking at!?”

 

“It looks funny! That’s all that matters!” Law took the phone back so he could look at it properly. “I’m going to call this...  _ Luffy the cloth demon _ .”

 

“I am  _ not _ a cloth demon!” Luffy slapped Law’s knee. “There is no such thing!”

 

“There is now. It’s you. In this picture.” Law spoke as a matter-of-factly, moving the phone from one hand to the other so that it was away from Luffy. “That’s what I’m going to tell Bonney when I show it to her.”

 

“What the  _ fuck _ , Law!?” Luffy squeezed his boyfriend’s knee and leaned forward but made no effort to reach for the phone. “No! Destroy it! Get rid of it!”

 

“Not a chance.” Law pinched him playfully by the nose and pushed him back. “It’s cute and I like it.”

 

Luffy drew a deep breath of disbelief and then grumbled in protest.

 

“Are you saying I’m cute when you can’t see my face!?”

 

“I said no such thing.”

 

“Then why is it that the only time you thought it was okay to take my picture was when my face was covered?!”

 

“Fine, then.” Law shrugged and activated the front camera as he held out his arm. “Let’s take a photo now.”

 

It wasn’t the idea of taking a photo together that surprised Luffy. It was the fact that Law’s arm was suddenly around his shoulders, pushing them closer, feeling warmer than he used to be. Law’s head tilted so it was resting on Luffy’s which strangely made the demon’s neck  _ freeze _ in place. What proved to be most distracting, however, was the screen that Law was holding out in front of them. On it, Luffy could see himself stiff and surprised against the beautiful man that had just pulled him closer. It looked like a small mirror with a very surreal reflection.

  
“Wh-wha-why are you…?” 

 

It wasn’t the first time they would take a photo together. The last one was in the game box earlier this week but that was very bright and lively. And Law had done nothing but complain about how he hated everything that was happening—a stark contrast to the human next to him right now.

 

And then click.

 

The shutter sound went off.

 

“E-eh?” Luffy was sure as fuck that he wasn’t prepared for that photo. His brain wasn’t functioning right yet.

 

Law looked at his phone, smiled, and then laughed. His fingers landed on Luffy’s shoulder, chuckling while telling the demon to look at how his face looked like on the screen. With all his heart, Luffy would love to look and share a laugh with Law but all he could think of was how the man was making that bright, loud, and  _ honestly jovial  _ sound. Would it be possible to trap this man’s laughter in a jar for safekeeping or emergency purposes?

 

Luffy wasn’t sure what to do with the warm, fuzzy feeling that was smacking his chest but he didn’t want it to go away. It made him remember the first time he laid eyes on Law.

 

Oh, he was  _ poison _ . When Luffy came across his human for the very first time, Trafalgar Law smelled like sweet, toxic poison. He was beautiful, oh, yes, but he also reeked of  _ hazard _ . All of Luffy’s senses told him to  _ stay away _ . This man was trouble if not certain death. This man was not good for him. This man was danger. And betrayal. And pain. And sorrow. He’d never encountered a human that smelled so repulsive! But, at the same time, it was that blatant effort to send him away that piqued Luffy’s curiosity. Half of his instincts said “no”. The other half went “oh really?”.

 

Just as he was about to decide on whether or not he was going to leave the strangely detestable mortal alone, Luffy heard Law  _ laugh _ . And everything about him  _ changed _ . Every bit of caution in Luffy’s body just _ disappeared _ upon hearing that magical sound come out of someone so gorgeous. Right that instant, Law turned into the most fragrant and attractive living creature that Luffy had ever encountered. Life had never been the same. And Luffy decided that he wanted this man. No one else. Just  _ this one _ .

 

“Come on, look at this and smile properly.” Luffy caught Law saying just as he was pulling his wits back from the small flashback in his head. The man was elbowing him more happily than the Law he was used to. 

 

“Smile, okay?” The beautiful creature called “Luffy’s boyfriend” was saying now, “I’m going to count so you know.”

 

“O-oh.” Luffy blinked, eyes pasted on Law’s bright features. “O-okay.”

 

“What’s wrong?” Law lowered the hand that was holding his phone. “You don’t like taking pictures?”

 

It wasn’t that. It was just that thinking was already a difficult chore on its own. Having to deal with Law being cute, sweet, and fluffy and  _ wondering why _ was too much. But Law’s expression was slowly looking bit disheartened like he had gotten something  _ wrong _ again, which was silly because Law wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was radiant and Luffy just wanted a few more seconds to stare at him like this.

 

“N-n-no! No, no!” Luffy shook his head vigorously both to insist his point and to help him focus on this activity that Law wanted them to do together. “I just… I’m just not used to… To all this...!”

 

He gestured and waved around like he wanted to show Law what  _ this _ meant. Both of them. This.  _ This _ .

 

“Close your eyes, then.” Law nodded at him.

 

“What?”

 

“Look at the camera and then close your eyes. I’ll count to three and then you open them slowly.” Law was speaking casually as he fiddled with the phone. “I’ll time the shutter so the photo looks natural and you don’t look silly. You okay with that?”

 

Luffy nodded a bit absent-mindedly. He didn’t want to close his eyes yet. He wanted to keep staring at Law. But then closing his eyes seemed to be necessary for the photo so that’s what he did.

 

“Ready? Three. Two.”

 

“One” never came but the sound of the shutter did.  

 

And then Luffy felt felt soft, warm lips gently pressing against his cheek so unexpectedly that all of his blood frantically rushed to his head, unsure where else to go. Surprise took his breath so that he drowned for a moment as his eyelids flew open. The small screen in front of him was flashing an image so captivating, he almost thought he was dreaming. Luffy could see his own gaping face as Law kissed his cheek so dearly, eyes closed the entire time like he  _ meant it _ and… And good heavens,  _ please _ , if there was a higher power out there, Luffy would give  _ anything _ for Law to have meant it.

 

The whole thing lasted for a second or less. All of it. But it felt longer than that, most definitely. And Luffy made sure every inch of his body remembered this happiness. He had to. He absolutely  _ had to _ .

 

Oh, but he dared not move, no. He couldn’t. Luffy didn’t even know that an event occurring for a second or two could be too much and yet—like all other precious moments he had with Law—not enough.

 

How was he to digest that Law had  _ tricked him _ so he could take a photo of Luffy getting kissed unaware? Of Law doing it all on his own without Luffy asking? Without the moment even calling for it? How was he to pull himself together after realizing that?

 

In the short moment that Law had placed a kiss on his cheek, pulled away, and put his phone down, Luffy’s fingers had tightly wrung the handkerchief in an attempt to keep himself from bursting. He was speechless, which was unusual even to himself. And maybe Law noticed that, too, because his instinct wasn’t to look at the phone and the photo it had taken. Law was looking at Luffy as if waiting for any reaction. 

 

But what was he to do?

 

Luffy felt like he wanted to cry. How much bullshit was that? Why would he cry?

 

“L-Law… Th-that’s...!” 

 

Whatever Luffy was supposed to say was immediately forgotten as soon as he saw a tinge of red spread across Law’s cheeks that crawled towards his ears. 

 

“Y-you said…” Luffy tried to speak. “You said…!” 

  
And then Law sheepishly looked away like he had done something the wrong way again. Luffy wasn’t sure why kept on making that face but all the demon could do was to give his human a hug and press his face against Law’s shoulder.

 

_ Don’t be a dream. Please, don’t be a dream. _

 

“L-let’s take another, Law? Last one for tonight before we go home?” 

 

Luffy hoped his muffled words would be understandable because the heat on his face prevented him from detaching himself from Law for the next few seconds. He could feel the man’s breathing in a curious, unique rhythm with the thumping of his heart. 

 

Law’s reply was a sigh laced with a smile and Luffy thought he felt the man’s fingers brush gently on his arm.

 

“Okay.”

 

Pulling away was awkward because they’d been silly. And It was only now that they were reminded that they weren’t alone. There was, in fact, a  _ crowd _ of people around them. But whether or not anyone had turned their heads to look or scowl or glare or laugh didn’t matter.

 

As Law outstretched his arm, Luffy inched closer as he tried to fit perfectly in the curve of Law’s body. Like a puzzle. So it would be obvious they were meant to be. On the screen, he could see the poor rumpled handkerchief peeking from between his fingers. Luffy lifted it up slowly so it would be visible in the picture, too. It was Law’s first gift to him. It deserved to be immortalized.

 

“I’m going to count for real now.” Law mumbled and Luffy thought he nodded. Perhaps. Or no. He really wasn’t sure. His head was still in the kiss he received a few seconds ago.

 

“One. Two. Thr—”

 

And the phone was gone.

 

Law had frozen in his pose as he felt the small gadget leave his fingers like it had been snatched by the wind. Luffy, on the other hand, might have been barely aware but he was quite sure that whatever the fuck grabbed the phone was not human. Law’s demon got up and whipped to his right, head darting towards the top of the tall building that the thieving creature had scaled with ease. 

 

Luffy didn’t have to strain to see its silhouette on the fence of the rooftop. It sat on its haunches, its eyes peeking like yellow slits from the shadows of the night.

 

“You… Fucking…!” Luffy growled, the handkerchief getting crumpled again between his tight fist. And then the motherfucker in the shadows brought up Law’s phone and  _ grinned _ . 

 

That’s it! This fucking pompous piece of shit was  _ asking for it _ !

 

Without so much as a second thought, Luffy kicked off from where he was standing and dashed to find a place obscure enough for him to easily move and disappear from the normal human eye. He was getting that phone back. Those photos mattered to him. And Luffy had no qualms breaking this idiot’s neck if he had to.

 

“Luffy!” Law yelled, sprinting uselessly after his demon who had sped off without warning into a dark alley. Or at least that’s where Law thought he went. The man wasn’t sure what exactly had happened but things didn’t disappear like  _ that _ from people’s hands. Not without some fucking  _ intervention _ . He knew for a fact that whatever took the god damn phone was not a human thief. No human moved that fast. Now whatever that fucking  _ creature _ wanted with the gadget was not Law’s concern. It was Luffy he was worried about. What if he—

 

“Ow!”

 

Law’s thoughts were punctuated with a collision with something hard enough to make him think how he was becoming a total  _ moron _ for running into a fucking wall.

 

“Hey!” An unfamiliar male voice echoed between the walls of the small empty street. “Watch it!”

 

The tattooed human stumbled back a bit, losing his footing, his arms flailing until thick, strong fingers grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back on his feet. It seemed Law didn’t run into a wall after all. He just ran into a really sturdy person who was, in fact, a man significantly larger than Law and had flaming red hair pushed back by absurdly out-of-fashion square goggles. 

 

“Yo.” The stranger said with a distinct jingling sound of his brass bangles as he released Law’s wrist. “Be careful.”

 

“S-sorry. I wasn’t looking properly.” Law was too distracted with finding his missing boyfriend to even apologize properly. He  _ had _ to find Luffy soon before he got into any trouble. And in case he had already gotten into a fight, Law  _ had _ to be there in case he needed mana.

 

“It’s fine.” The red-haired stranger said and that was good enough for Law to just respond with a quick nod before proceeding to walk around the large man. 

 

Until he realized the fingers had not left his wrist.

 

“Let go.” Law attempted to wrench his arm out of the grip that only tightened to the point that Law winced his demon’s name. Behind him, the lamp post flickered wildly as the stranger scoffed in a voice gruff and dark enough to make Law lift his head. He found himself looking straight into yellow eyes and a devilishly grinning face. 

  
“I never said you could go,  _ Trafalgar _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit’s about to go down.


	20. Into The Mist

Law remembered his playroom. The floor was carpeted and the ceiling had an intricate chandelier. The walls had large windows with thick, red draperies and the shelves, much like the one in his own room, was filled with books.

 

Law remembered his toys. A lot of them were stashed in a giant brown box with golden linings. His favorite was a large polar bear plushie the size of his five-year old torso. Law had Bepo ever since he was old enough to remember anything and the trusty, fluffy stuffed toy was his most trusted friend. Aside, of course, from Baby Five. And Cora-san. And Uncle Doffy. Everyone else was horrible or didn’t care.

 

“Here you are.” Cora-san’s faint voice came from the door. Five-year old Law didn’t even budge from where he was seated with Bepo in the middle of the dark playroom. Their only source of light was the one spilling from the hallway. Around them was a city he had built from dominoes, blocks, and cards stacked into high towers and pyramids, and stretched like roads and bridges. Law had imagined each and every one of the halls, ballrooms, and courts in his city. There was also a playground although they were all shaped like squares but Law didn’t mind. The human mind was a wonderful thing, after all. It allowed him to imagine the swings, the slides, the monkey bars, the see-saws, and all those other things he couldn’t properly experience outside. 

 

“I thought you were playing with the other children.” His uncle didn’t even bother to flick the lights on as he approached carefully.

 

“I don’t want to play with them.”  Law continued to sit amidst the world he had created, pouting as he looked away and pulled Bepo closer.“They’re all stupid.”

 

“Did anything happen?” Cora-san looked around the long line of dominoes next to a tower of cards. He looked like he wanted to cross it so he could sit next to Law but he wasn’t sure if his legs wouldn’t snag one of the pillars to make the whole fortress come crashing down.

 

“No.” Law mumbled into the back of Bepo’s fluffy head. “I really just don’t like them.”

 

“Law.” Cora-san took one step back and carefully sat on the floor. Law thought his legs looked like a pair of really long scissors. “If something’s bothering you, you can tell me.”

 

“Nothing’s bothering me.” The child spat out quickly, hugging Bepo tighter. “I really just don’t like them. They’re all idiots. I don’t like them.”

 

The tall, blonde man sighed. Law knew he was probably going to get into trouble. But not really. Just sort of.

 

“Vergo says you almost broke Karina’s arm.” Came the statement that Law was waiting for. “Is that true?”

 

“It’s her fault. She was calling Baby Five names.” Law pulled up his knees, looking smaller than he already was. “They were laughing at Baby Five behind her back because she plays with me.”

 

“So you admit that you tried to break Karina’s arm?”

 

Law grunted. He thought it sounded more of a croak, though, and that was just one of the reasons why he wanted to grow up soon. Uncle Doffy’s voice was very authoritative and he was really cool when he yelled. Even the sound of him clearing his throat commanded respect. Law wanted to be  _ that _ .

 

“They were saying I smell so bitter and I smell so...  _ hazardous _ .” Law tried to make his voice sound leveled and clear but just saying those words made him angry. 

 

Bitter. Hazardous. 

 

“What do they even  _ mean _ , Cora-san!?”

 

“Well, sometimes... People use words that they... Don’t exactly know the meaning of.” his uncle replied calmly, coughing in between. “So they don’t really know how those words hurt.”

 

“Then did they ever consider that their minds are all  _ stale _ ?!” Law got up angrily, stomping his foot and gritting his teeth as Bepo dangled from Law’s tight grip. Cora-san’s expression was not changing and that only irritated him further.

 

It angered him that people were stupid enough to be hurtful. It angered him that he didn’t understand why it was okay to be cruel with words but not with actions. It angered him that he was so tiny. Even the world he had created was dwarfed by the large room. The room, on the other hand, was just one of many in the mansion. And the entire world was much, much bigger. He didn’t know why that upset him so much.

 

“Wha-what did Baby Five…” He was wheezing between words. “..Ev-ever do to them?!”

 

“Okay, enough of that for now, Law.”

 

Law hated how tears just sprang out of his eyes. He didn’t want to cry right now. He was angry. Angry people don’t cry!

 

“Wha-what did  _ I _ ever… Ever do to them?!”

 

He had wailed that question more to the world and himself than his uncle. It aggravated him that the words would never get out of these walls.

 

“What did…” Law choked on his next sentence as he wobbled. His legs were feeling weak and his chest was starting to tighten. It was like his body was intentionally trying to vex him. Why was he such a weakling? 

 

“Nothing, child. You did nothing.” Cora-san sounded worried. Law couldn’t see properly with how the tears were blurring his eyes. “Now, I need you to take deep breaths for me now, son, can you do that?”

 

Law nodded. He swallowed hard and took one deep breath before his vision swayed violently. And the darkness claimed him like the many times it previously had right before he hit the floor. 

 

The last thing he remembered was the sound of falling blocks.

  
Law hated dreaming of memories.

 

* * *

 

 

“When I get my hands on you…!” Luffy ground the words out between gnashed teeth as he dashed and leapt from one rooftop to another. The thieving moronic creature was still on the loose, moving faster than the human eye could follow but Luffy kept track of him with ease. The idiot still had the phone. The phone still had the photos. Luffy  _ had _ to get it back!

“You…!”

They were still a good distance away from each other when Luffy decided that this far was enough for him to reveal one of the tricks up his sleeve. The demon pulled his arm back and threw a punch as violently as he could. His fist didn’t reach past his arm, but his mana shot out like a slithering, rubber extension of his limb, grabbing onto the railing of the rooftop fence two buildings over. With a huff, Luffy swung forward, catching up to his target even faster like a monkey would between trees. 

Whether or not the phone snatcher was surprised, Luffy didn’t know and didn’t care. He was more concerned with how this asshole must not be allowed to widen the gap that Luffy was hell-bent on closing. And perhaps his target felt the demon’s aggressive and violent anticipation, because his body language started to read “panic”, which was good. Luffy wanted him to know that he’d messed with the wrong human, that he wasn’t getting out of this without at least a broken limb. And that was  _ if _ he was lucky.

“Get back here!” Luffy hollered, not caring if anyone heard him, as his extended arm landed on the culprit’s shoulder. With a devilish snicker, Luffy pulled him back and dashed forward himself so they could meet each other half-way. The incubus’ free hand had already formed a fist and if this thief was  _ lucky enough _ , Luffy’s punch would miss his vitals. The phone snatcher tried jerking forward in what was meant to be a form of resistance, which Luffy found not only futile but  _ funny _ because  _ as if _ . He’d have to saw his thieving loser arm off if he wanted to break free from Luffy’s hold. In fact, the bones on his shoulder might as well snap or shatter for the world to hear, but Luffy was  _ not _ going to let go. At least not until he got Law’s phone back. 

And it seemed the thief thought of that last bit, too. He lifted his arm high enough so Luffy could see the small square gadget with the screen lit up, waving it as if to catch his pursuer’s attention.  

Luffy’s eyes widened.

“You wouldn’t!”

The creature tossed the phone aimlessly away.

“You  _ fucker _ !” 

And just like that, Luffy projected his other arm to grab the phone but was already out of reach. The thief’s shoulder was still in Luffy’s bone-crushing grip, still being pulled towards him as his arm recoiled back. With another curse between grunts, Luffy quickly buried his feet on the stranger’s back and kicked off, speeding like a bullet towards the direction the phone was thrown. Luffy had to wait for both his arms to retract back with a snapping sound before he threw out another grab at the phone. He was successful this time. His projected hand immediately grabbed the gadget, careful not to crush it in his grip.

“Gotcha!” 

Luffy somersaulted in mid-air with a “woo-hoo!” before landing on a random empty rooftop. His immediate concern was to look at the retrieved object. Thankfully, it didn’t look broken and there weren’t any visible cracks. The screen was still on and Luffy saw an image of a starry sky before it turned black. He gasped in surprise, unsure whether or not that meant it was broken or if the pictures in it were safe or not. But phones could be fixed, right? 

A very feral growl coming from above him made repairs take a back seat. Luffy wasn’t about to stand around and find out if that sound came with claws or fangs.

Rolling his eyes away in irritation, the demon leapt away just in time before the thief came crashing down with a punch. The rooftop didn’t turn into rubble and the rooftop didn’t cave into the next floor but the impact of the punch was still strong enough for tremors to crawl across the concrete floor. Thin clouds of dust haven’t even risen high enough to be notable when Luffy’s attacker disappeared in one quick movement. 

“Ah, crap.” Luffy frowned as he put the phone in his pocket. He had already clad it with his mana so it wouldn’t break on impact and so that he could find it even if it accidentally fell out. 

There was a whizzing sound to his right, moving behind him, then to his left, jumping up, diving down behind him, moving to his left, and then right, and then…

“I don’t have all night!” The angry incubus roared before lowering his stance and throwing a punch at an angle to his right. His projected mana fist sped forward angrily before his knuckles met a hard jaw. In an instant, the pursuing thief was sent hurtling across the rooftop, twisting and somersaulting in mid-air so that he landed with his feet on the floor. The demon watched him skid to a stop as the dust once again clouded around him.

Luffy took this chance to take a good look at his opponent. 

Whatever Luffy was fighting right now wasn’t a demon. He didn’t feel like it at all. He didn’t feel like he was an undead either. So was he a human? Was he a warlock? No. His eyes were glaring yellow and he had claws. His hair forearms and his hunched posture reminded Luffy more of an animal than a monster. And his fangs were more thick and prominent than a demon’s, too. It was almost like those set of teeth were meant to  _ tear _ flesh.

Like a beast.

A wolf.

“A werewolf.” Luffy whispered to himself.

But what would a werewolf want with a phone? He didn’t seem to be hunting since werewolves didn’t work alone. Maybe he just really needed a new phone? Werewolves had human lives if they weren’t being all wolf-y after all. But why did he have to mock Luffy about it, though? Werewolves didn’t eat demons. They actually preferred warlocks because the well-refined mana from their live beating heart helped stabilize the lycan curse. It didn’t make s—No. Suddenly, it made sense.

These mutts weren’t after the phone  _ or _ Luffy.

The wolves were hunting Law!

And just before Luffy could decide his next course of action, a large, muscular man—no, it had to be another werewolf—landed so heavily a few paces away from Luffy that it made the incubus bare his fangs and hiss. The phone thief growled loudly in a distance and Luffy bared his fangs at him in rebuttal.

“It looks like you get it.” The long-haired, blonde man’s voice sounded gruff through the row of holes of his thick blue and white striped masked. It covered his whole face and didn’t even have slots for eyes, nose or mouth. So did this one not use his fangs? Or was that what he wanted his opponents to think?

Luffy growled.

Was this their alpha wolf? The head of the pack?

“Before you resist, why don’t we try to avoid bloodshed?” The large stranger asked a bit too relaxed for Luffy’s taste given the situation. “Does your contract compel you to fight? Do you die with the human? Or does his death mean your freedom?”

“No.” Luffy’s angry crimson eyes bore through the darkness. “If he’s hurt, you’re  _ dead _ .”

  
“I see.” The muscular werewolf sighed as four other wolves started crawling out of the shadows. “Then it looks like you’re going to have to go.”

 

* * *

 

 

The feeling of Uncle Doffy’s large and strong hands on his head told Law that he was still dreaming of memories. His brain was in conflict with himself as he unwillingly reminisced about how those hands made him feel safe and proud even as he woke up in his bed from another fainting episode. 

“I’m awake now...” Law said weakly. It was stating the obvious but he felt the need to say something, anything. “People are mean.”

“They are.” His uncle ruffled his hair like he’d done a good job. “They tend to be.” 

“Doffy.” Cora-san’s unusually stern voice came from the other end of the room.

“So you have to be better than these people, son.” The man in the pink feathered coat talked over his brother. “You have to be stronger than them.”

Law nodded weakly. He opened his mouth to say something but the darkness took him again.

  
The last thing he remembered was his reflection on his uncle’s pointy shades.

 

* * *

 

 

It was already too late when Luffy noticed how far the wolves had led him from the Friday Food Fest. The whole venue was not even in sight anymore. He didn’t even know if Law was still where he left him. He didn’t even know if Law was  _ safe _ .

There was an incredible sense of shame and guilt as Luffy dashed from one building to another, swinging with extended mana limbs, trying to conserve as much energy as possible until he got to his human and confirmed his safety.  It was only because his tattoos had not returned that he knew that Law was still alive but for how long, he didn’t know. All Luffy needed was to have Law unharmed by his side so that he could fight the wolves with a little more resolve.

On a normal night, Luffy would fight these wolves and take them down but tonight wasn’t in his favor. His human was missing and his current mana pool forced him to avoid unnecessary fights until he got to his host. Luffy had to prioritize his objectives and Law’s safety was  _ paramount. _

From the time that Luffy had left the rooftop, the werewolves that were chasing him had quickly increased in number and started to come from all directions. He literally had to fight his way off that building, resulting to two large gashes on his shirt and one sleeve being torn off. His regenerative ability had healed up all his wounds and scratches but he’d rather avoid fights to keep himself from expending mana. Perhaps the only saving grace here was that the phone was still in his pocket. 

Luffy looked back quickly. There were currently three visible werewolves on his tail. The other ones were undoubtedly around him, too—in the dark, down in the alleys or waiting on the rooftops ahead. None of them had morphed into their animal form probably because none of them wanted to alert the humans down below about what was going on. Otherwise, they’d have other shit like annoying guns and god damn  _ warlocks _ at their tail, which pretty much meant  _ annihilation _ .

There was a dark blur that sped along the alley beneath him. Luffy knew better than to assume that was a cat. With one swing, he landed atop a random roof in an attempt to get his bearings really quick. The evening horizon was a deep shade of dark bluish purple dotted with stars and splashed with hues from the lights in the city bustling with life even in the night.

Which way was Friday Food Fest again?

Luffy grunted and kicked off towards his right. The mere fact that he couldn’t sense a speck of Law’s mana meant that his human was still too far away. The demon looked at his fingers, thoughtfully. His borrowed heart beat with dread at the thought of his tattoos suddenly returning. 

He shook his head. No. Wrong mindset. What he should do right now was do his best to remember how to get to Friday Food Fest to see if Law was still there. This wasn’t supposed to be too difficult if only his mind wasn’t too fucking  _ occupied _ .

A loud, approaching feral growl made Luffy leap atop a random wire fence and throw a projected mana punch towards the large werewolf lunging at him from another building. His fist connected against the creature’s neck, sending him spinning away before both of them disappeared in a quick blur of movement. All the stop-and-go he had been doing was fucking up with this sense of direction. 

Which way was he going again? The incubus clicked his tongue before properly reorienting himself and kicking off again.

Panicking, thinking, and running away from werewolf pursuers while trying to find Law was so damn stressful. Luffy’s mind could only handle so much thinking and his body just geared into instinctive overdrive. He had to keep himself alert, to keep his blood circulating in fury, to keep the worry from getting to him. 

Fuck. He was such an idiot. How could he have forgotten that he was a familiar? How could it have slipped his mind that Law would automatically look like a warlock just by walking around with Luffy?  _ Of course _ , potential predators would think he was a warlock. And because of that, whoever had Law was going to give it everything he’s got. After all, it was a general rule not to fuck around with warlocks unless they were significantly outclassed or in a dire disadvantage. The only ones who stood up fiercely against warlocks were the Highers and overly experienced high class demons. And even then, you’d have to worry about the rest of their clan possibly going on a goddamn  _ justice hunt. _

Except Law wasn’t a warlock. Law was just a man with good quality mana and a very strong mind at best. He didn’t have cultivated mana like the warlocks got from their training. 

Eating Law’s heart wouldn’t stabilize the lycan curse!

At that point, Luffy started having flashbacks of Ace and Sabo crashing Law’s house, how his human looked like curled on the floor, clawing at his throat, eyes unfocused, and consciousness shaken. That had been Luffy’s fault, too, for not telling Law about his brothers and for not getting the door. 

“Shit.” Luffy was choking tears in a flurry of negative emotions, mostly self-blame overlaid with a thick blanket of guilt and worry.

How could Luffy let himself be so damn  _ stupid _ around Punk Hazard?! 

“This is my fault.” Luffy ground the words through his teeth as he dashed forward. “This is all my fault!”

 

* * *

Law was seven years old when he realized that the doors in the Donquixote mansion were larger than he had thought. They also seemed to feel heavier, as they were more difficult to push. Life must suck if even inanimate objects mocked his frailty.

And now that he was looking up at the brass handles of the double doors to his uncle’s office, Law knew he was dreaming yet again.

“Uncle Doffy?” His own voice sounded like a creak as he slowly pushed the door open. The room was dark save for the light on the desk where the tall blonde man sat in his large executive chair. His shades weren’t on, which was unusual, but Law couldn’t make out his uncle’s face from where he was standing.

“I’m busy.” The executive grumbled, forehead resting on his fingers as his free hand turned the page of a thick book he was reading. He didn’t even lift his eyes to look at his nephew who had not budged from the door. 

Uncle Doffy had been cold to him for a few weeks now and Law wasn’t sure what he’d done to merit such treatment. He had tried asking his uncle but he wasn’t even paid any attention. Everyone else in the mansion, on the other hand, had given him their own answers about his uncle’s demeanor except Law knew none of those were the truth. Cora-san said such attitude came with old age and stress. Law didn’t understand.

“I…” The boy swallowed hard, fiddling with his fingers. “I was thinking maybe you’d like to play pick up sti—”

“Did you not hear me say I’m busy?”

Law gasped and bit his lip. He should apologize, turn around, and go to his room. But Cora-san was sick again and Baby Five was already asleep. And Law was just terribly bored. 

And lonely. 

“I… I heard but...” His little voice sounded softer. “When can we play ag—”

“Do I look like a child to you, Law?” 

The boy shook his head, biting his lip, keeping the tears from welling in his eyes. 

“Good.” Uncle Doffy didn’t even spare him a glance as he waved at Law to shoo him like he was some annoying mosquito. “Now go to bed. It’s late.” 

Law slowly nodded, heavily turning to go until his uncle spoke again.

“Oh, wait.”

The little boy was quick and eager to turn around, not bothering to stop the smile that flashed across his face. But when he looked, his uncle still had his eyes on his book.

“Before I forget, don’t bother coming to me with these trivial things anymore.” There was no change in his tone, no change in his posture except for the hand that was turning another page. 

“I have no use for it just like how I have no use for you.”

Law really hated dreaming.

 

* * *

 

 

The smell of the earth was the first thing that Law recognized when he started to come to. It was the first indication that he was not dreaming anymore. He was lying with his back on the ground and he assumed that the uncomfortable things poking at his skin were twigs, rocks, and grass. The sound of chirping crickets around him along with the rustling of the leaves was almost ominous. Add that to the fact that he couldn’t hear or even  _ smell _ anything remotely close to food and human activity and Law was damn sure he wasn’t anywhere close to Friday Food Fest anymore.

So where exactly was he?

Law tried not to groan as he moved to lie on his side in an attempt to get up. That proved to be more difficult than it should be. His body was heavy. His limbs were limp. His head was throbbing. His mouth was dry. This was probably what worn-out rusted toys felt like. Law tried to ignore the tight, disturbing feeling around his neck in favor of willing his body to move and gathering his wits to sort out his situation.

What happened?

“You awake, sleeping beauty?” 

That voice was low, gruff, and not-so-familiar although Law had a faint recollection of hearing it somewhere. He wasn’t sure. The throbbing of his head wasn’t helping him remember either so he decided to slightly open his eyes. At first, he thought his vision had gone wrong and hazy until he realized that he was, in fact, surrounded by  _ fog _ and thick tree roots forming small interesting arcs over the ground covered with patches of grass, rocks, and leaves. Law’s eyes scanned the area quietly until he spotted a silhouette that seemed to be out of place just across him.

Even beyond the considerably thick mist, Law could make out the form of a large muscular man sitting on a wide tree stump. His flaming red hair stood out even in the darkness against the backdrop of grim robust trees and gloomy bushes but it was his glowing yellow eyes that caught Law’s attention. It made him remember how his last waking moment prior to this was in an alley and then  _ darkness.  _ He wasn’t even sure how he was knocked out.

“Here I was thinking you needed me to kiss you.” The large stranger hunched forward, grinning widely as his yellow eyes pierced through the mist. It made Law uncomfortable enough to feel an aggressive phantom grip around his wrist along with a growl of “Trafalgar” from the back of his head. Law moved his tattooed fingers slightly, like there was a strange need to have  _ something _ in between them, as if there was something he could grab to get some sense of comfort and security.

_ Luffy. _

Wait. Where was Luffy? Law looked around, doing his best to stabilize his hazy mind as he tried to find any sign of his demon nearby.

“Tss. Not even a response? Rude.” The red-haired stranger was saying now, the sound of brass bangles chiming in as he waved a finger at Law. “You and your boyfriend. Both of you had been rude.”

Law did his best not to spare the man a look or show any form of expression. He had no idea who or what this creature was, where they were, or what was going on. And unless he got a good assessment of the situation, he’d rather not give anything away. This  _ thing _ seemed to know about Luffy being his boyfriend, though. 

Law hoped Luffy was okay. Last he remembered, his incubus was chasing after a phone snatcher. That theft was probably orchestrated as a part of a bigger plan that involved taking Law captive. Was this creature an enemy getting revenge on Luffy or something? Was Law being held hostage to get to his incubus?

“What’re you looking for? Your familiar?” The man was half-laughing and Law could somehow imagine rows of pointy teeth tearing a smile across his face. “He’s busy.” 

Busy?

“If not dying.”

Those three words were enough for Law’s body to forget that it was tired and heavy. He sat up in one go, snapping his head towards his captor and sending him the sharpest glare his entire being could muster. How dare this creature even suggest that Luffy was—

KZZZT!

“Aghk!” Law heavily fell to the ground as a shock coursed through his veins, heavily zapping his heart and his brain. The man coughed and wheezed, eyes unable to focus on anything as his mind frantically tried to figure out what was going on. The tightness around his neck seemed to be more obvious now and Law would inspect it with his fingers if only his hand would stop twitching against his will.

“Ohh, were you trying something there?” The red-haired creature was still talking with his half-laughing condescending tone. “You didn’t fuck up, if that’s what you’re thinking. Your mana’s just shackled.”

Trying something? Shackled? What was this monster talking about? 

Law pressed his forehead against a thick tree root as he shakily tried to push himself up on his weak arms and wobbly knees. His captor made an amused mocking sound as if encouraging Law to try and do something. And Law  _ would have _ done something if only he knew what could be done. He wished he could use mana even if only to throw dirt into this creature’s glowing yellow eyes.

KZZZT!

“Aaagh!!”

There it was again! Law fell back on the ground and rolled to his side, wheezing in pain but more angry than hurt.

Why!? He wasn’t doing  _ anything _ ! Was it a crime to  _ think _ !?

“Just give up.” Law’s captor sounded impatient. “The more you struggle, the more it’ll hurt you.”

Law’s tattooed hands were trembling when they came up to scratch his neck in an effort to find air until his fingers hooked onto  _ something _ around his throat. 

Huh? Was that a thin metal strip? What was that? 

No, it was stupid to ask. Law  _ knew _ what he was wearing. And the realization made him freeze for a good second or two, trying to regain proper breathing pace as his twitching fingers reached again for his neck to confirm that, yes, he  _ was _ wearing a collar. 

Okay. Don’t panic.

With a deep breath, Law carefully ran his fingers across the surface, trying to feel for the lock but noticed some engravings, metal studs, and screws instead. Perhaps the latch was at the back of his neck for security reasons. 

But why would he be collared?

It was a question Law found himself regretting having asked himself in a heartbeat because his brain just ran through a quick list of possible answers, none of which he liked.

“In case you haven’t figured it out yet…” 

The sound of the stranger’s voice approaching along with the cracking of leaves and twigs under heavy feet made Law fidget. The big red creature was walking towards him!

“...You can’t control even a drop of your mana as long as that thing’s on you. So forget about your little tricks.”

Huh? What tricks?!

Law sat up haphazardly, opting to scamper backwards a bit too late because thick fingers were already grabbing him by the neck. His body swung like a doll’s and his world turned into nothing but a blur of dark blue and purple with smudges of deep forest green. In one second, he had left the ground before finding himself being slammed against a tree in the next. Law groaned loudly as his body registered all sorts of pain like he needed to be reminded of it. 

Did supernatural creatures really have an affinity for choking victims and slamming them against vertical surfaces? How many times has Law been in this hold within the week? The first time was in an alley thanks to Bellamy and the next was in his own home thanks to Ace. Both times, however, Luffy did his damnest to come between Law and his attacker. 

Something told Law that this problem wouldn’t be any different. He shouldn’t be scared.

Law tried to open his eyes and found himself staring straight into proud, mocking yellow ones. 

Had he asked Luffy about demon eye color? No, it seemed he didn’t. He assumed all of these beings had red eyes. The only thing red about this one was his hair that stood up like flames being pushed up by a pair of square goggles. He was particularly huge but his thick coat made him look larger and scarier in the darkness. Beneath his coat was a low-cut shirt that seemed to be showing of his hair chest. Or was it really hair? Law’s eyes trailed from the man’s shoulders to his arms.

No, it wasn’t hair. This creature had  _ fur _ .

What creature had fur? Did Luffy ever ment—

“I don’t seem to like how you’re looking at me.” His captor snickered, flashing his set of pointy teeth at Law as if to show off. “Don’t even think for a second that I’m scared of you,  _ Trafalgar _ .”

Was stressing his surname supposed to  _ mean something _ ? If anything, it only made want Law to spit at this red-haired punk.

_ I’m not scared of you either _ .

“But, damn, it’s true what they say, isn’t it?” The large creature leaned forward, audibly sniffing, pressing his nose against Law’s neck, just below his jaw before  _ inhaling deeply _ much to Law’s outraged irritation.

“Mmm, good stuff.”

The vibrations of this red-headed monster’s gruff, muffled laughter against Law’s skin was  _ repulsive. _ The disgusted shivers going through his entire system were impossible to ignore. He didn’t liked being touched and he absolutely  _ abhorred _ being creepily sniffed by a total stranger who wasn’t even  _ human _ . It was that moment when the Law, despite being helplessly pinned to a tree, decided he  _ was _ going to spit on this red-headed freak after all. And maybe land a punch or two. Later. Once Luffy got here and beat thirty thousand shits out of this crimson-haired shit face.

“You  _ do _ smell like toxic mana.” The large human-like creature pulled back slightly, still sniffing  as he did. “The whole fucking lot of you Trafalgars are poisoned as fuck.”

Trafalgars? Every other Trafalgar that Law knew was in Flevance but Law hated them enough to agree that, yeah, that fucking family was probably poison of the earth. So was this creature confusing him for some other Trafalgar? Or getting back at his entire clan, perhaps? Well, he’s got the wrong person. That family had no shred of  _ care _ for him.

“You smell so damn dangerously  _ nice _ .”

Law swallowed a growl, wanting to comment on how the hot, rough breath on his skin felt more toxic than whatever’s piercing the ozone layer. That was until he felt a thick, wet tongue being dragged across his jaw that made him want to peel his skin off.

“Motherf—!” The man struggled and pushed against the robust piece of demonic shit, doing his best to ignore the feeling of sickening saliva against his skin. “Stop that!”

“Mmm,  _ yessss _ .” The creature almost  _ moaned _ , god damn him, tongue grazing against the shell of Law’s ear enough to make the man start kicking as furiously as he could. It was futile, obviously, as the thick bastard didn’t even budge or bat an eye and even had the audacity to whisper into Law’s ear. 

“Would you say my name with that voice?”

He would if it meant instant death!

“Get off me!” Law yelled, doing his best to struggle out of the heavy body that was pressing distastefully on his own. 

“Come on. Say it.” The monster whispered again, not the least bit bothered about how Law was violently pushing against him. “My name is Eustass Kid.”

“I said  _ get off me! _ ” Law jerked his leg as soon as Kid lifted it to—fuck, really?—hook it around his hips.

“And I said my name is Kid!” One of the monster’s angry hands grabbed Law by the knee and pulled his resisting leg back up in a dominant attempt to make him wrap it around his thick waist. And Law was going to have  _ none of that _ .

“Well,  _ go fuck yourself _ , Kid!” 

Without sparing a single thought, Law quickly lifted his hands and buried his thumbs into Kid’s vivid yellow eyes. The creature howled like an angry but injured animal, quickly backing away from Law, large hands releasing his human captive in favor of rubbing his palms against his burning eyes. 

The rough bark grazed painfully against his skin as he slid down the tree but the man didn’t even bother to wince. He was not an idiot to stay and listen to his captor’s curses and roars.  He had to run, dash,  _ flee _ . Where he was or where he was headed to, Law wasn’t sure, but stopping to consider was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Anywhere was safer than here.

“Trafalgar!”

Kid bellowed after him and shit if Law’s entire body didn’t kick into hyper adrenaline rush to allow him to run faster than he thought he could. From Law’s frantic vision, the trees moved. Vines fell out of nowhere. Eyes seemed to be everywhere. The tree roots protruded. Even the silence felt like a shadowy hand that was lurking in the bushes, waiting for its chance to grab at him.

No. No, he mustn’t scare himself. He must hold out until Luffy—

“You son of a bitch!”

The close proximity of the voice immediately made Law’s consciousness jump, causing his  entire body to lose coordination. His foot got caught in a tree root, a vine, a rock, fuck Law didn’t know anymore. He was too busy stumbling forward, landing chest first, rolling harshly down a rocky slope that had him going fuckfuckfuck _ fuck _ ! Still, though, he’d rather roll in flames than get licked by that hideous furry turd ever again.

“Hey!”

Law wasn’t sure if Kid had actually yelled that or if he only imagined him to, but he was sure that the heavy foot lodging itself into his midsection was  _ real _ . He felt himself flying to one direction like a rag doll, unsure when his body hit what until Kid stopped his helpless form with a foot. Law writhed on the ground—coughed, panted, croaked, and just fucking  _ cried _ because his body could only handle so much physical pain and mental in one go. The collar on his neck was tightening, sending small zaps of electricity to his heart, making it difficult to think or breathe. Where was air? Where was light? Law was struggling to figure out how to keep functioning especially with the taste of his own blood in his mouth.

“You think you’re smart, motherfucker, hm?”

Fingernails scraped against Law’s scalp as Kid grabbed him by the hair to lift his head so he could glower menacingly at the human. Law’s vision was blurred by the mist and his involuntary tears but he could see those knife-like eyes and those vicious set of teeth.

Now Law knew barely anything about demons and whatnot but every fiber in his being told him that this Eustass Kid was on a higher level than what Bellamy was. Law had come up with  _ nothing  _ to improve his situation. If anything, poking his fingers into Kid’s eyes had the opposite effect. The redhead was  _ furious _ .

“Do you even  _ know _ where you are to run  _ deeper _ into this forest?” 

Why was Kid still even  _ trying _ to engage him in any sort of conversation?! What the fuck did he  _ want _ !?

“Lu...” The tattooed human coughed. His throat felt rough.

“Lu?” Kid shook him by the hair and Law wondered if his neck was eventually going to snap. “Can’t you even say a word to be your final one?”

“Lu…” Law gasped. “...ffy… Luffy...”

“Wha—Oh,  _ please _ .” Kid rolled his eyes away. “Was that a  _ spell _ ? Your mana is shackled. Your demon is going to die. And even if he isn’t, he’s not getting here on time.”

Law wasn’t sure where he found the guts, the strength, or the  _ audacity _ to narrow his eyes at Kid and say in between harsh panting, “He’ll… Kill... You…”

Those three words probably hit the last nail on Law’s coffin but it felt rewarding in its own right to watch Kid’s face contort into something that resembled insult, surprise, and disbelief. Words were all Law had to retaliate at this point and he was going to take what he could get.   
  


“Is that supposed to be a  _ threat _ ?” Kid drew his face closer as he pulled Law’s head up by the hair. “Everyone knows incubi don’t put up much of a fight.” 

Law’s glare felt pretty much permanent at this point. It was all the response he was willing to give Kid.

“Or do you mean to tell me that if I touch you, your demon will become some  _ monster _ to fight me?” Kid shook him again before throwing his head back to the ground.

“Did you put a curse on him?!” The red-haired creature kept talking angrily despite Law not saying anything more. The human’s groans seemed to only fuel Kid’s aggravation further, though, as he paced back and forth next to Law’s unmoving body.

“Is that your contract?! Your spell?!” Kid’s voice was getting louder with every word that poured out of his mouth and Law wasn’t sure how he was forming these theories but it was buying time for Law to keep breathing until Luffy gets him. He wasn’t even sure why he was  _ still _ banking on Luffy finding him at all.

“Do you mean to say that by some  _ force _ , he’ll come out of the ground and  _ kill me _ ?!”

The last two words came with a single but ruthless kick to Law’s thigh. The human didn’t know that pain could make him yelp and cough at the same time.

“You mock me, Trafalgar!” Kid kicked Law continuously as he growled the words between his teeth. Law could feel and  _ hear _ at least one of his ribs crack.  

“You’re helpless and near death but,  _ still _ , you mock me! Warlocks are so  _ conceited _ ! You make me  _ sick _ !”

And then Kid stopped, huffing from his outburst. He clicked his tongue and put his hands on his waist as he looked up at the night sky. The moon was full and bright but it did little to pierce the thick fog that enveloped the forest. For a moment, there was nothing but the wind, crickets, and Law’s heavy breathing until Kid decided to talk again.

“You need to be reminded of just how powerless you really are.”

That did  _ not  _ sound good. Alarm bells went off in Law’s head but he was too beat to even jerk his arm away when Kid picked him up by the elbow and turned him so that his chest was pressed against the ground. Law could feel a heavy foot trying to find its proper spot on his back just between his shoulder blades as Kid dangerously pulled his arm back.

“Let me do the honors.”

Law’s eyes widened, knowing full well what was going to happen a split second before it happened. Kid twisted his arm in one quick motion until it made a cracking sound that went horrifically in sync the painful cry that exploded from Law’s throat. Even in the state of panic and torment, Law’s brain clearly registered every ounce of pain from the feeling of his flesh being torn, his shoulder being dislocated from the socket, and his arm snapping like a toothpick. Rolling around in pain would’ve helped him deal with the pain but Law didn’t even have enough strength for that anymore. He just lay there with eyes shut, tears flowing against his will as a roar of agony continuously erupted from his open mouth.

“See?!” Kid towered above him, laughing almost maniacally as his hands made wide gestures that Law couldn’t even follow. And then the redhead bent down, motioning to pick Law up by the hair again. “You’re  _ nothing _ without your precio—!”

Kid’s sentence was punctuated with his own surprised grunt. There was a satisfying sound of a fist socking the redhead right in the jaw followed by the whizzing of Kid’s large body flying towards the trees. But Law’s favorite was definitely the distinctive yelling, barbaric voice that came after it.

“Keep your filthy hands off my human, you stupid dog!”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I know I keep saying this but please tell me what you think.


	21. The Law of Conservation of Mana

The sound of Kid crashing into rocks and trees in a distance was the most amazing thing Law had heard next to Luffy’s voice ever since he’d regained consciousness. Now if only he could stop hurting long enough to respond, that would be nice.

 

“Law!” Luffy was already next to him and Law could only hope that his groan was understood properly as “I’m so glad you’re here”. He couldn’t even open his eyes to look at his demon boyfriend but that was all right. What’s important was that Law was right to trust his demon to come for him. And now he was here.

 

On the other hand, Luffy had no time to worry about anything else that didn’t involve getting Law to safety. His lean arms immediately and protectively scooped up his human and he leapt up to start jumping from one tree to another. Making sure to keep moving in high places was important. It lessened the chances of an attack from above as well as allowed Luffy see as much as he could of the hazy forest. After all, there were many things to be worried about.

 

Kid’s pack was undoubtedly still chasing after them. Unfortunately, Luffy had spent too much of his mana trying to find his human _while_ staying away from werewolves _and_ escaping every time they caught up to him. The smears of dirt and blood on his face were a testament to how difficult it was to outrun a pack of hunting wolves. He had even lost his entire shirt and his precious pair of shoes from the skirmishes in the alleys and empty rooftops. It was no surprise that Kid had brought Law to Punk Hazard. This was their kind of terrain after all.

 

But outrunning the wolves was just one of their concerns as long as they were in the mountain’s thick fog. This part of Punk Hazard was never a safe place to be because hunting demons lurked in the mist. They are either on the prowl for lost mortals or are up and about looking to kill for entertainment. Whichever the case, running around with a human as mana-rich as Law was like begging to be pounced upon.

 

Now escaping _anything_ wasn’t Luffy’s specialty. In fact, he hated running away. His style was to stand his ground and _fight._ But doing that now would put Law in danger. Luffy was in no shape to be fighting a pack of werewolves or driving off any other potential predators. Fleeing was the only option they had. Law’s safety was Luffy’s top priority so his first order of business _had_ to be to get them out of Punk Hazard’s mist area and start their way out of the mountain from there.

 

Law groaned in his arms, making the demon worry about his condition.

 

“Munchkin. Sunshine. _Law_.” Luffy wanted so much to kiss his forehead but he had other things to prioritize. The human’s only response was to whimper again and then cough thanks to his broken ribs.

 

“You’re hurt!” Luffy anxiously stopped to land on a random tree branch, contemplating if he should locate Sabo’s human or take Law to a human hospital instead. “I need t—What’s this?”

 

Luffy’s fingers hooked around the metal choker that Law was wearing.

 

“A collar.” The incubus answered his own question, both horrified and vexed. The fact that it had small studs, engraved inscriptions, and even mana-laden stones made it obvious that it served a purpose other than being an accessory.

 

“Who put this on you?!” Luffy looked at his human who was obviously having breathing difficulties. “Was it that red-headed mutt?!”

 

Law nodded weakly.

 

“That filthy _dog_!” With one grunt, the collar shattered under Luffy’s angry fingers.

 

A gush of air filled Law’s lungs as soon as the rest of the choker left his neck. The man’s eyes widened in surprise as he found himself taking one swig of breath after another, something he didn’t know he needed until _now._ He wasn’t even sure where the soothing wave travelling in his veins was coming from but he welcomed its circulation into his body despite it sending him into a coughing fit. It was like _something_ was rushing into his system, cleaning up the pain and the injury albeit slowly.

 

Luffy’s senses were too heightened to miss that. The way Law’s mana had immediately surged out of his body like water bursting from a dam was something the demon didn’t expect. Law’s presence was _so_ _strong_ that Luffy had to fight the urge to sink his teeth into his neck and drown in his essence. Had his human always had this much mana? Had he always smelled this fragrant? Had the toxicity of his atmosphere always sang to him so much?

 

But even more surprising than the tone of Law’s aura itself was how that very life essence proceeded to _borrow_ Luffy’s regenerative ability to _heal himself_.

 

Like it was almost _instinct_.

 

Now borrowing abilities between bonded entities wasn’t anything new. In fact, Luffy’s ability to daywalk and his beating heart were both _borrowed_ from Law. However, the difference between him and his human was that Luffy had been working with mana since the day he awakened. Law had only been exposed to Luffy for at least a week. How on earth was he doing all this mana manipulation without being aware of it!?

 

Was it possible for Law to be a warlock?

 

Luffy shook his head.

 

No. He couldn’t be. He knew too little to be one. Humans became warlocks through _years_ of rigorous training to be able to understand the world and control their mana at will. It was their organized and applied _knowledge_ that made them so fucking _scary_. There was no such thing as an untrained, unaware warlock!

 

“Luffy...” Law was oblivious that he had mumbled that.

 

“Ssh. You’ll be okay.” Luffy whispered lowly, finally dropping a soft kiss on Law’s head before proceeding to dash away.

 

Luffy wanted to smack himself. He had no time or effort to spare trying to understand what Law was doing. So what if he could heal himself by borrowing Luffy’s ability? Wasn’t that a good thing? At least he wouldn’t have to worry about his human being in a near-death state in his arms. Ah, that collar must’ve done something to turn Law into this. Why else would his mana erupt so protectively like it had just done!? That stupid werewolf must have tried to control his human or something!

 

“A dog.” Luffy sounded like he was talking to no one in particular but the outrage in his voice was impossible to miss. “A _dog_ dared to collar _my human_.”

 

“Woof!”

 

Law’s eyelids flew open as soon as he heard Kid’s mocking voice right next to them. And true enough, there he was, right above Law’s head and dashing right next to Luffy. The incubus growled loudly, spinning mid-jump and sending a heavy kick towards the red-headed werewolf who blocked with thick crossed arms. Using the momentum of his kick, Luffy propelled himself towards the opposite direction in an attempt to launch himself and land on a nearby tree but the blonde masked werewolf came was now coming with claws from above.

 

Luffy cursed loudly.

 

“Don’t worry about me…!” He could hear Law say.

 

Luffy not worrying about Law in _this_ situation? As if that were possible.

 

With another curse drowned in incoherent yelling, Luffy had no choice but to block the attack using his legs. Long, vicious claws tore at his skin with streaks of red spilling out as the force sent him hurtling towards the ground.

 

“Grit your teeth!” Luffy’s words were barely audible even to himself but Law’s head moved in what felt like a nod before ducking to hide his face against Luffy’s shoulder. The incubus pulled his knees up, took a deep breath and projected a kick against another tree trunk to send them speeding up again. Luffy landed on a thick tree branch and was hoping to get a few seconds of rest when a white-haired werewolf covered in stitches landed at the same time, on the same branch.

 

“Holy shit!” Law actually sounded more disgusted than surprised.

 

Luffy’s instinct was to elbow the motherfucker in the face except his hands were full carrying Law. And that split-second of contemplation was all the enemy needed to open his mouth and lunge with a bite at the demon and his human. Sensing that it would be too late to counterattack, Luffy’s next option was to shift so that his shoulder would catch the enemy’s vicious fangs but the human in his arms decided to do something about it.

 

“No, you don’t!” Law’s words almost sounded like a feral growl as his knuckles lodged themselves right in the white-haired monster’s eye socket, making the creature howl and yelp in pain. That was Luffy’s cue to kick him off the tree branch before speeding off again.

 

“I’m sorry I spaced out.” The demon wasn’t sure how to feel about his human punching a werewolf. Sure, he looked pretty cool but he’d rather not have Law touching dangerous creatures like that again.

 

“Eyes are always vulnerable for any living thing.” Law mumbled like that was the appropriate reply as he carefully looked at his right hand opening and closing its fingers. This arm was uselessly broken just a while ago. Now he could move it just fine. It quickly reminded him of his injured shoulder the night he had ensnared Luffy and how it seemed perfectly fine when he got home. He’d have to discuss it with Luffy later after they got themselves out of thi—

 

“Gotcha!” Kid again.

 

Luffy’s sudden yell of pain made Law go “Fuck!” as the red-haired werewolf’s fingers grabbed the demon by the head, forcefully dragging him down. Luffy held onto his human so tightly, panicking as to how to retaliate in this angle without putting Law in such a compromising position. His unconsciously heavy grip hurt enough for Law to be too confused to do anything but shout, “Stop hurting my demon, you vermillion asshole!”

 

Without so much as a warning, a large dome-shaped film started forming from where the three of them were, claiming territory so fast that it sent both Luffy and Kid to recoil the hell away from each other in an attempt to get out of the spherical range.

 

The werewolf landed on a tree nearby, screaming angrily.

 

“How _dare_ you claim territory in neutral grounds!”

 

And that was enough to tell Luffy that the dome wasn’t Kid’s work. The incubus looked down at his human who was still glaring daggers at the redhead, fingers tightly trying to bury themselves onto Luffy’s shoulder that he was clutching onto. The man was _threatened_. Whatever he was doing now, he was doing it unaware. How, though? Luffy quickly made a scan of the area. The space of the territory was still growing and the wolves below had scurried around in alarm. Who wouldn’t be? This range was insane! But what was Law to do with it?

 

There was no time to find out the answer. Not when the tree that Kid was standing on was being uprooted by a foreign, invisible force. It flew into the air, the mist billowing around with the trunk’s violent movements as rocks, ground, grass, and plants swiveled all around them, hovering violently within the space encompassed by the blue film that had seemingly stopped growing.

 

Luffy landed on a thick branch nearby but then even _that_ started to shake.

 

“What the fuck’s happening!?” Law looked around in shock, trying to adjust himself in Luffy’s hold.

 

“I don’t…!” Luffy wasn’t sure what to tell his human. Calm down? You’re doing this? Feign innocence?

 

“Doesn’t matter!” Law shook his head as he tapped Luffy’s jaw. “Let’s get out while they’re lost in this chaos.”

 

Right. That was a better course of action.

 

Luffy nodded and sped away. It was amazing how Law’s voice went from shaky to levelled in a matter of seconds. Luffy had already gone and focused on how everything was inexplicably swirling around them in mid-air and he would’ve _stayed_ gaping at the sudden havoc had Law not instructed him to flee. The dome had not dissipated and Luffy worried how much mana Law was spending on it. For a very inexperienced human, the consequences of irresponsible mana manipulation could be severe. Law could die.

  
“The collar’s off!” Luffy could hear Kid shout from a good distance amidst the sounds of another tree being pulled out of the ground. “All of you! Get out of here!”

 

“But you—!”

 

“Shut the hell up! Killer, get out of his range! All of you! That’s an order!”

 

“We’re not leaving you!” Luffy recognized the voice belonging to the one with the striped mask. “You need his heart before the moon’s peak ends or this’ll be all for naught!”

 

And then there was a chorus of growling and roaring, followed by the distinct sound of aggressive movement, which could only mean that the pack was _chasing them_.

 

“You _idiots_!” Kid’s holler was drowned by the spine-tingling howling of his pack.

 

“They’re so fucking into this.” Law grumbled, trying to look into the mist and seeing silhouettes speeding among the trees. “How do you kill werewolves? Silver bullets?”

 

“Seriously, where do you even _get_ these ideas?” Luffy almost sounded pissed but not really. He looked back again. They were out of the dome’s range. It wasn’t growing anymore and it wasn’t following Law either. In fact, it appears to be fading.

 

“I just…” Luffy shrugged. “I don’t know. You stab their heart? They’re humans, too.”

  
“Well, shit.” Law clicked his tongue.

 

“Are you scared?”

 

“Of course, I am.” The man grumbled immediately, sighing and brushing away the hair that was whipping against the side of his face. “But if I showed them that, they’re going to think you’re useless and won’t be scared of you anymore.”

 

Oh. So Law thought the pack of wolves were scared of _an incubus_?

 

“Besides, he said the collar shackled my mana.” Law had talked over the low, curious sound that Luffy had responded with. “Now it’s off, I can be a better battery to you now, can’t I?”

 

It would probably impress Luffy forever how smart of a man Law was. His presence of mind was almost unbelievable in that he could make the best out the worst situations while being able to piece together the little details to paint a bigger picture. But he was partly off on this one. The werewolves weren’t wary of Luffy at all. They were threatened by _Law_ or, more accurately, by the warlock that they thought Law was. Luffy was only a factor. Even if a warlock lost his familiar, it was common sense to assume that he still had a virtually endless stash of tricks up his sleeve. An ensnared demon would only be one of them.

 

Luffy felt like a total moron for not having this discussion with Law. If the man had more information in his head then maybe he could’ve figured out _something_ for this situation if not prevented it altogether. But, no. Luffy was just too fucking _dumb_ to have assumed that everything would be fine. He was so happy he was with Law, he had completely overlooked what that entailed for the both of them. Such a careless knucklehead!

 

“I’m sorry.” Law’s murmur made Luffy gasp and glance at the human he was carrying. “I wish I could be of some better use.”

 

“What are you talking about?!” Luffy snarled more angry at himself than at Law’s words. “ _I_ promised to take care of you! _I_ should be—”

 

The loud sound of clinking metal reached Luffy’s ears before he could finish that sentence. His head whizzed to look behind him and was met with thick iron chains shooting at them like angry tentacles. Law’s collar was the first thing that flashed in his head, making him decide that his priority was to keep Law away from these things no matter what. Luffy quickly pushed Law’s head towards his chest and ducked below a large tree branch up ahead. One of the chains coiled over it quickly and shattered it almost at the same time. More chains pursued, speeding through the mist like they were endless in length. Did they belong to the wolves? This was the first time he’d heard wolves using equipment. What kind of pack was this?

 

Luffy weaved through the trees, going up and down branches, trying as much as possible not to decrease altitude. The chains kept at them along with the animalistic howling from a distance. Shattered rocks and splintered wood flew about them as the mist danced around like playful forest ghosts. Luffy wasn’t sure how long he could keep this distance from their predators without getting caught.

 

CLINK-CLINK-CLINK!

 

And that was the sound that made Luffy curse the entire concept of thinking.

 

The chains had caught up with him sooner than he thought. Metal links angrily wrapped around his ankle as if to clash with his bones and sever the foot from the leg. But Luffy’s limbs weren’t his primary concern. It was Law.

 

“Luffy!” The man had no idea what was the shortest way to tell him not to do anything stupid like sacrificing himself to the wolves. Whatever combination of words sounding less ominous than “don’t leave me” escaped him as Luffy quickly tried to set him down a tree branch too late. The demon’s arms fumbled and Law fell as he watched his demon get yanked back and away from him by the chain around his thin ankle. Law couldn’t even process how his own body was free-falling, how the thick branches snapped as he broke his fall. The hungry, aggressive growling in the distance reached his ears and all he could do was try to find Luffy’s voice in all of that uproar for _some_ sign that he was still there, still fighting, still alive.

 

A strong arm around his torso made himself slightly more aware of his surroundings. Law felt himself flying like a useless twig being carried around. Long blonde hair whipped at his face and Law had to move his head away to keep it from poking his eyes as he looked up to see who had him. The masked member of the pack was carrying him. Law was being taken back to the wolves, wasn’t he? He was fine with that. That’s where Luffy was.

 

That’s where Luffy was being torn into little pieces.

 

They were still in mid-air when Law caught sight of it. His demon was in the middle of a pack of what seemed to be twenty—had they really been this many?—fucking _twenty_ angry wolves taking turns slashing at him. They prowled in a ring, jumping in and out, eyes glowing yellow, baring fangs viciously, and Law would’ve given anything for the blood on their claws to not have been Luffy’s. Except it was. No amount of denial could tell Law’s mind that the red streaks on their limbs belonged to anyone but his beloved demon who was in the middle of the savage ring of death. He was up but staggering on two feet, eyes as crimson as he could get them and hissing like a severely wounded animal.

 

He was wounded. He was bleeding. He was injured. He was in pain. He was in every state Law couldn’t imagine him to be in and yet now he was.

 

“Luffy!” Law yelled, pushing against his captor who only tightened his grip around his body. The man grunted angrily, wanting to punch this thick fucking werewolf in the eye but couldn’t. Stupid mask. Helmet. Face cover. Whatever. Law’s attention was caught by the bulging veins on his captor’s thick muscular neck. Maybe if he pressed really hard—

 

“Don’t even think about it.” The voice that came from the mask startled Law for a bit as they landed on the ground. “I’m going to snap both your arms if you try anything. We only need you alive, not moving.”

 

And then the werewolf looked up to the moon.

 

“The moon’s still peaked.”

 

Law had no idea what that meant and truthfully, he didn’t really care. Watching his demon get bloodied was more painful from ground level. The wolves moved around him like whizzing shadows, growling and snarling amidst the sounds of slashing and punching in tune with Luffy’s own hisses of futile retaliation and pain. He had bared his fangs and his eyes were still full of fight but nothing about him looked dominant or scary. Luffy wasn’t a threat at all.

 

“Luffy!” Law struggled against the thick, hairy forearms that held him. His demon immediately turned to the direction of his voice. For a split-second, their eyes met and Law hadn’t even gotten a read on what Luffy was trying to tell him before a blur of dark red lunged at the demon, leaving four bloody streaks across his face and that was just… _unacceptable._

 

“ _Luuuuuuuffyyyyyyyyy_!” Law’s voice had gone hoarse over the short duration of saying his name with all his strength, uselessly kicking under Killer’s arm. The werewolf didn’t even flinch.

 

And then there it was again, that blue dome-shaped film started growing without Law knowing it.

 

“Killer!” Kid’s distinct voice was the last thing Law heard before a heavy punch rattled his brain. Killer’s large knuckles pounded him once on the jaw, sending his head bouncing back and forth on his neck like a bobble-head toy.

 

The dome dissipated.

 

“Law!” Luffy sounded beyond angry, Law thought as the taste of blood returned to his mouth. “Don’t you da—Argh!”

 

He got hit again. Luffy had taken another hit thanks to being distracted by his fucking useless crying human. Law wanted to bury himself somewhere if that meant they’d leave Luffy alone. And then Killer slammed Law onto the ground chest first, ridding him of all the air in his system. The human gasped painfully, grass and earth sticking to his face. Even this god-forsaken forest was trying to ridicule him.

 

_“I have no use for you.”_

 

 _Seriously?_ Why was his uncle’s words echoing in his head right now!?

 

Killer forced both of Law’s tattooed arms behind him and held onto his wrists with just one large hand. Law squirmed but even before he completely got the sound out, Killer heavily kneed him in the shoulder, making a loud roar of pain tear uncontrollably out from Law’s throat. He could hear Luffy say his name again and, good lord, Law wanted to stop screaming already. It was distracting to his demon.

 

_“You have to be better than these people, son.”_

 

Oh, _dear Uncle Doffy’s_ voice was severely unwelcome now that Law’s mouth tasted like blood and earth. His eyes were blurry thanks to the tears that he’d only noticed just now. It was very annoying how all he could do was cry against his will when all his options had run out.

 

_“You have to be stronger than them.”_

 

“Just bring him down already.” Killer said above him almost impatiently. Law lifted his head heavily to take a look at what’s happening.

 

Luffy’s entire face was painted the same shade of painful crimson down to his neck that it was impossible for Law to tell where the bleeding started. One of his eyes had swollen closed. There were long criss-crossed claw marks across his chest and shoulders. His pants had been torn. His feet were also red. Wait, had one of his arms stopped working, too?

 

Luffy coughed out blood—god, Law was starting to hate red—and then there was one, two, three slashes before he started wobbling, threatening to fall forward face first.

 

He wasn’t dead, was he?  


“Luffy!” Law yelled, hoping so hard for his voice to reach him and push him up. Luffy fell to one knee, shaking his head. Droplets of blood whisked from his hair.

 

“Luf—Lu—!”

 

Law started choking as he felt his chest tighten painfully. His lungs hurt, too, and refused to properly distribute air to his system. Damn it, body, this wasn’t the time to be malfunctioning!

 

_“I need you to take deep breaths for me now, son. Can you do that?”_

 

It was Cora-san’s voice in his head this time but he couldn’t pay attention to that when Luffy had fallen to the ground face first. Unmoving.

 

“Lu—!”

 

“Enough.”

 

Killer slammed Law's head right back down on the ground before he could call out to his demon one more time.

 

“Luffy…” Law grumbled at the earth, tasting his own tears as he shook helplessly against the large beast holding onto him. Why? Why was he so fucking _useless_? Why was everything so much bigger than him?

 

Law squeezed his eyes shut. This wasn’t the time to brood about things he couldn’t change. He had to focus on what he had. Which was what? A body he couldn’t move? Mana that he couldn’t control? _What_!?

 

_“Why did my mana do that? It wasn’t my intention to tie you up at all…”_

 

Oh.

 

_“It does what you tell it to do whether subconsciously or not.”_

 

Law felt a really, really small spark of hope.

 

He had a mind that was still functioning. It was his strongest suit. And if Law had learned anything from his studies _and_ being with Luffy, it was that the human brain played a major role in controlling _everything._

 

“ _Luffy_!” Law shouted with all he had. Whether or not his demon reacted to that, he wasn’t sure. His only option right now was to stay focused and keep talking.

 

_“You won't do anything to hurt me, would you?”_

 

If thoughts and words were all he had to work with then he was going to reach Luffy with it and stay with him up until the very bitter end. Or die trying.

 

“You can’t lose!”

 

He had to trust their bond.

 

“You can’t die!”

 

_“Then your mana won't either.”_

 

Wishes were all he had. Words were all he could work with. This bond was all he could bet on.

 

_“It does what you tell it to do whether subconsciously or not.”_

 

And perhaps Law was going out on a limb with what he was doing but it was his only option, as risky and possibly imaginary as it might be. It was the only card that was left for him to play.

 

“I’m ordering you to win…!” His heart was tightening and his head felt like it was swelling, threatening to burst. “You need to win! _No matter what the cost!_ ”

 

Law made sure to stress the last sentence as his last ditch effort to tell his mind, his body, his mana, fuck it, he’d even tell the universe that he meant it if he had to. If some god was out there listening, he had to know that Law was praying that he meant for Luffy to _stop getting hurt_ no matter what the cost.

 

His heart beat solidly and loudly once and a small part of Law told him that could’ve been the last of his heartbeat, the final audible mark of his life before the god of death himself made a deal with him.

 

But it wasn’t.

 

To say that Law’s mana gushed out from his body was an understatement. The man’s life essence had exploded with enough force to knock Killer tumbling away and enough magnitude for Law to actually _start glowing_ _violently_. All around them was a frenzy. Tree trunks shook, branches splintered, leaves flew about, and rocks were in the air. The ground rumbled as if trying to join the chaos above it and the mist swirled like a visual manifestation of cackling laughter. The human’s eyes had gone white and the scream that was erupting from him was continuously loud and powerful. He couldn’t stop his own voice even if he tried.

 

Law wasn’t sure if he was conscious anymore. This feeling of etherealness was something he had no recollection of encountering before. The tattoos on his skin started glowing. His mana was responding! Law wasn’t sure how he knew but he was fucking _sure_ that this angry golden light was a manifestation of his mana. And it was something Luffy needed _desperately_ . Law had no idea how to control his own energy but to think and beg and pray to please, _please_ , reach Luffy.

 

The light streamed like a beautiful luminescent golden bridge from Law’s body straight towards Luffy’s unconscious one lying facedown on the ground. The wolves backed away from both the demon and his human. When Law’s mana started sweeping the area in search of possible threats, the pack quickly hid behind the thick trees and rocks to protect themselves from both detection and the whirling debris that were flying in the air.

 

“Get out of here!” Kid yelled as he leaned back on a massive rock. “All of you!”

 

“We’re not leaving you!” Someone shouted back from somewhere.

 

Kid looked back at their supposed prey.

 

The blood on Luffy’s skin dried up and disappeared. The wounds and fractures on his body quickly healed. And then the markings on his skin slowly returned, outlined with a trace of golden light that slowly transitioned into a beautiful shade of steaming, angry red.

 

“Kid!” Killer yelled from behind a tree next to the alpha wolf who fidgeted, momentarily lost at the spectacle unraveling itself before him. “He’s transferring mana to the demon! Take the Trafalgar and go!”

 

“I’m not leaving you!” Kid frowned. “I can take him on! He’s only an incubus!”

 

“That’s not the point!” Killer swiped his large hand frustratedly across his mask. “If the warlock keeps on doing this, his body’s going to break and he’s going to _die_ ! A dead warlock’s heart means _nothing_!”

 

Kid kept frowning but said nothing.

 

“You’re the only one that can withstand touching the Trafalgar at this point!” Killer swatted away a large tree branch that flew his way. “Take him far away from his range to stop the transfer. We’ll keep the demon busy. Take the warlock and eat him while the moon’s still _peaked_!”

 

Kid and Killer looked behind them where pandemonium still raged on. Luffy was starting to get up but Law’s tethering had not stopped one bit. If anything, it kept on going furiously as if he was trying to turn Luffy into an entirely different creature. Multiple wounds split open all over the human’s body, streaks of blood staining his skin as the energy inside him tore at his flesh to get out of and reach his demon with the sole intent of saving him.

 

“Stop.” Luffy’s spoke softly. “Stop it, Law. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

 

Law could hear him but he was so drowned in his own energy that even his own mind refused to form words properly. His only focus was to give his demon energy. It was the last thought he had, the last wish he threw out.

 

_No matter what the cost._

 

And Luffy felt that thought clearly. There were no words but their connection was too perfect for him to miss Law’s intentions.

 

“You’re only going to stop when I win then.” Luffy mumbled as he looked at the markings on his hands and arms. It almost felt like a long while since he’d worn these. His skin glowed in a powerful but eerie shade of red. His body felt so incredibly hot and scorching that steam started to form around him. Despite having an insane appetite for mana, he had never felt this supremely powerful in his entire life.

 

The marks hadn’t left Law’s body either, which meant the contract was still in effect and that the demon’s tattoos had only temporarily returned. It felt strangely satisfying to Luffy that they were both wearing the same marks on their bodies.

 

“I’ll win for you. I’ll deal with the dogs.” The demon spoke levelly. “And then we’ll go home.”

 

A chorus of mighty roars came from behind Luffy as the werewolves emerged from their hiding places all at the same time. Luffy turned quickly to see a wave of yellow eyes, claws, and fangs towards him.

 

Good. He didn’t have to find them.

 

Luffy lowered his stance, legs apart and feet firmly planted on the ground. Placing one hand on his knee to brace for impact, Luffy drove his knuckles to the earth, yelling loudly as a wave of mana erupted from the point of impact. The ground around him shook and the space reverberated from the pressure as an angry force pushed everything into the air—soil, rocks, leaves, grass, twigs, branches, werewolves.

 

“Focus on the demon!” Killer managed to grab onto a large mass of tree trunk that was flying around and jumped to the next rock that whizzed his way. There was a roar of affirmation that Luffy only responded to by clicking his tongue and glaring at them.

 

The whole pack converged like an angry tidal wave at the small demon. Luffy couldn’t give two shits. In an instant, he was gone, leaving nothing but a whiff of steam where he used to be standing. Huh? Where did he go? Was he invisible? Or was he only too fast?

 

A split second later, an animalistic roar of defeat shattered Killer’s train of thought. One wolf had fallen. It was followed by a buzzing sound before another wolf fell injured, whimpering in pain. And then another. And another. And still, another. Luffy appeared and disappeared quickly with each one, a trail of steam being the only remaining witness to how he’d knocked the wolves unconscious.

 

Killer cursed loudly, yelling at everyone to scatter and keep moving. How were they the ones being hunted? It was a single incubus! Everyone knew that incubi weren’t designed to fight!

  
So _how_!?

 

“That Trafalgar is so fucking annoying!” Killer grunted in frustration. And maybe he shouldn’t have done that. There was a quick rustling sound behind him, followed by a demon’s low, predatory whisper.

 

“I heard that.”

 

Punk Hazard’s mist and Luffy’s mana steam danced with one another in a rhythmic flow of red and white.

 

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

 

Holy shit, it was too fast, too powerful. Killer didn’t even know which part of him was broken and how but his body felt terribly, terribly injured. As the blonde werewolf started to freefall, he discreetly turned to where the human had been lying and found the spot empty.

 

Good. At least they had that going for them.

 

* * *

 

“Mother!”

 

Law wasn’t sure if this dream was a memory.

 

“Mother!”

 

Why was he calling out like this? He’d never met his mother.

 

His small hands reached out for a wooden door handle and pushed it open to run inside a small wooden cottage. There were two large but thin pillows on the floor near two low stools across a small fireplace. His little feet turned to his right where he found the dining room and the kitchen merged into one area. A woman stood with her back to him, seemingly cooking judging by how she seemed to be stirring.

 

“Mother!” Law could feel a large stuffed animal under his arm as he ran towards the dark-haired woman.

 

“He’s here!” Law could hear himself say again as he tugged at her skirts. She turned to him slowly but for some reason, Law could not see her face. It was his mother, though. He knew. Her smile was so warm despite this being the first time he’s seen it. His heart skipped a beat.

 

“Who is?” She asked as she wiped her hands on her apron.

 

“Father!” Law had squealed so excitedly. His mother gasped and both of them turned towards the door where a tall blonde man stood. Law couldn’t see his face but his clothes told him that this man was financially better off than him and his mother.

 

Didn’t his father die or disappear before he was born?

 

“Father’s home!” His small childish voice giggled happily as he ran to the door and into the man’s waiting arms. “Father’s home!”

 

Everything felt right but Law had no recollection of this at all.

 

* * *

 

Being thrown onto the ground violently wasn’t how anyone would want to be woken up but Law had little to no choice in this matter. Tired and confused, he immediately gasped for air but seemed to find none despite nothing blocking his nose or mouth. Law’s hand immediately clutched his chest when the sound of his angrily beating heart eventually reached his consciousness. He was trembling and disoriented, panting desperately for oxygen as he writhed on the ground.

 

“You…!” Kid’s angry voice managed to shoot through Law’s jumbled state of mind. He sounded angry but Law couldn’t bring himself to care. Finding air was more important to him. The man turned to lie on his side but Kid kicked him right in the midsection so he was lying on his back. That broke his ribs again and Law could only open his mouth in a silent scream of pain.

 

“You _horrible_ _fucking_ …!” The red-haired werewolf snarled, stepping on Law’s chest when the human attempted to turn on his side again. Killer and the rest of his pack was in danger after having risked everything for this stupid warlock’s heart. The human had no business trying to find a shred of comfort in all of this.

 

“Luf—!” Gasping his demon’s name was all Law could do as his chest heaved desperately, clinging onto whatever shred of oxygen his lungs could find. Kid grumbled and straddled him, sitting on Law’s stomach as his strong legs on either side of his body pinned the human in place.

 

“L-Lu—!”

 

“Shut up!” Kid hollered at him, vicious fangs _audible_ in his voice as he punched Law in the chest, making the man cough and wheeze. Law groaned, trying to lift his hand to at least clutch at his chest or claw at his throat but didn’t even have enough strength to do so.

 

What happened? Was Luffy okay? Where was he? Where were they? Where was the rest of the pack?

 

The sound of his shirt being ripped open reached Law’s ears and made him twitch uncontrollably as a measly sign of resistance.

 

“You’d better be worth all this trouble.” Kid grumbled amidst the sound of his knuckles cracking. And just before Law could ponder on what he meant by that, Kid brought his hand down on Law’s bare chest towards the side where his heart was, slender fingers arched in a claw-like manner trying to dig into Law’s skin.

 

Where he found the strength to cry in pain, Law wouldn’t know. Perhaps it was thanks to the insane burn that seared straight into Law’s heart, his lungs, his throat, his bones. It was unfathomably harrowing how his body felt like it was being invaded by a colony of bugs travelling through his veins in search for something. Tattooed hands grabbed onto Kid’s wrist as Law’s adrenaline fueled every futile writhe and kick.

 

“Asshole…!” Kid clicked his tongue afterwards and twisted his hand like he was unscrewing a lid, dragging his long claws across Law’s chest, leaving stripes of vivid red in its wake.

 

They said warlocks locked their hearts to protect themselves from predators and that this protection varied from one warlock to another. Known families and clans even had trademarks to keep attackers away. Trafalgars, for instance, smelled of danger to keep predators from even _trying_. And on that rare instance that some creature felt ballsy enough to attack, they would find an entire body laden with traps and poison. Kid wasn’t really sure if he believed that but Killer always told him that it was better to be safe than sorry when dealing with warlocks.

 

“Come _on_ !” Kid practically yelled, baring his fangs again and Law wanted to ask him what the fuck for? He had no strength to fight and had said nothing at all. What was he so aggravated about!? Law could do nothing but lie there at this werewolf’s mercy, wondering what had happened to his demon and was praying to all gods that please, at least Luffy should be okay. _Please._ Nothing else was left!

 

Until there was.

 

There was the sound of a twang at the back of Law’s head like someone struck a chord on a harp.

 

“Yeah, come on!” Kid sounded like he had finally gotten what he had been waiting for.

 

A blast of wind swept through the area as a glowing orb of bright white light started to phase out of Law’s chest and right into Kid’s large hand. The werewolf growled and Law could feel the bigger male’s weight shift on top of him to steady his position. Kid’s free hand gripped the wrist of his other hand as if to brace for the glowing round sphere of light that was pushing out of Law’s body. The red-haired werewolf grunted again, cursing three times in a span of a breath as the sphere phased halfway out of Law’s chest, glowing more intensely with every passing second.

 

So the rumors were true. Warlocks _did_ have mana locks. This one’s looked like an illuminated white sphere surrounded by strange inscriptions and lines crisscrossing its spherical surface. It seemed to house a smaller flickering, beating light as it phased out of the human’s body. The shadowy wisps that coiled around the sphere and seeped in like dark roots were probably the manifestation of the bond with his demon. Kid could tell because it greatly resembled the swirls on the human’s skin.

 

Well, whatever the lock was about, Kid only had one job—to break it with all that he had and consume the human’s heart. If this thing pushed out of Kid’s control, it could trigger god-knows-what. It had to be put under control.

 

The sphere felt prickly under his fingers, pushing against his life essence in an attempt to destroy him from the inside. He had prepared for this, though. No one should mess with a warlock and not have a plan after all.

 

The bangles on Kid’s wrist started clinking and the engraved inscriptions began to glow right when the werewolf expected them to. The mana lock fizzled under his touch, seemingly angry, but Kid did not give a shit. He’d put together an arsenal of equipment, reserved his mana, and consumed enough humans to stabilize the lycan curse all for the purpose of consuming this Trafalgar’s heart.

 

So, yeah. He was absolutely going to break this mana lock. His pack had sacrificed too much for this. Failing was _not_ an option.

 

On the other hand, Law didn’t know what was happening but he knew that it _hurt_. His entire body could feel every little movement of Kid’s fingers as if Law’s heart was beating right on his palm. The werewolf hollered incoherently as sparks started flying out of the orb with the sound of angry clattering brass. Law tried to open his eyes and lift his head to see what was going on only to see Kid’s angry determined yellow eyes, gnashed his teeth between his tightened jaw. The nerves on his forehead popped so much, Law could’ve sworn it would burst from pressure.

 

The light from Law’s own chest was practically blinding so the man had to squint harder, struggling to make some sense out of what was happening but found himself drawing a blank. Kid’s fingers squeezed the light globe harshly and Law could’ve sworn his heart stopped beating.

 

The man screamed again, his body thrashing uncontrollably, his voice hoarse, his eyes dry despite the feeling of tears streaming down his face. The pain was beyond a physical level and it shouldn’t surprise him by now but it still did. It shocked him enough to start hearing his heartbeat in his skull like it was some sinister rhythm that singing of his impending death. Fuck. He was too tired to interpret any of that anymore. And that said a lot if Trafalgar Law couldn’t even force himself to _think_.

 

Where else could he get the power to do anything at this point? Law could literally feel every drop of his strength surging towards his chest where Kid was trying to _fight something_. And then that same strength started to leave Law as if it had gotten tired, too.

 

Well, fuck.

 

“Lu—” Law coughed up blood. That wasn’t always a good sign.

 

Was it still right for him to wait for Luffy? To hope that he was going to find him again? Over and over? Helpless little shit that he was?

 

Law ran a list of other options through his head and came up with nothing. Perhaps this was it. He was going to die here. Law’s eyelids fell shut and the rest of his body shut down with it, causing him to miss whatever came next.

 

The already bright sphere started glowing _brighter_ as the inscriptions on its surface started moving, spinning, rearranging themselves like it was preparing for war. Kid cursed at it again because it was all he could do as he tried to keep the mana lock under control but it was starting to get a little too much. The vicious clinking of his bangles told him he had to wrap it up and break the lock but _how_!? It didn’t even feel like the energy was from the same person anymore! How was this possible?!

 

And then the inscriptions stopped moving. They had rearranged themselves in such a way that there were multiple prominent pairs of slit-like curves all over the sphere. Kid swallowed hard. He was telling himself to prepare for the worst when holy fuck, the exact inscriptions that he was wondering about—good lord, he thought they were just inscriptions— _widened_ and _turned into drawn eyes_.

 

There were live eye drawings gaping through the spaces between his fingers!

 

“Holy sweet fucking shit!” Was the only thing Kid could say but he kept his grip on the sphere, determined not to lose concentration.

 

He’d heard warlocks were sneaky and that Trafalgars were boobytrapped but _fuck_ , he didn’t think it would be _this creepy_! The eyes were nothing like real ones and looked more like two connected curves with a glowing flat circle moving frantically in the middle as if trying to find something, someone, anything, anyone until then they all stopped in an instant. Kid held his breath.

 

The small eyes on the sphere moved all at the same time and stared at _him_.

 

That could _not_ bode well for him.

 

One breath later, a dome of film immediately formed from the glowing sphere, encompassing both him and the unconscious human sprawled on the ground. This dome was highly similar to the one the Trafalgar was doing earlier except this one was heavier, stronger, and far more _threatening_. This clearly belonged to someone far more experienced. Kid was sternly telling himself not to let go of the sphere until a low and smooth male voice spoke.

 

_“Silent.”_

 

“S-silent?” Kid parroted dumbly, glaring at the sphere that seemed to be judging him with its own eyes. The clinking of his bangles stopped, its own light dying down as if it had shut down and rid of its purpose.

 

Huh? Was it malfunctioning?

 

There was no time to wonder or be angry. Kid found this out the hard way as a thousand thin mana threads started shooting out of the sphere like it had been coiled around inside the entire time. At that point, Kid knew he had to release the mana sphere in favor of backing away from the human. The strings smelled of _more_ danger than the dome itself.

 

But it was only possible to back away for such a short distance.

 

Outside the dome was nothing but an endless darkness where the forest of Punk Hazard used to be. Kid looked down to double check where he was standing. Beneath his feet was the grassy forest floor. Law was also still there. It seemed only the space within the isolated dome retained the original feel of Punk Hazard. Beyond it was nothing more but a deep, dark silence.

 

As dangerously horrible as the endless emptiness looked like, Kid knew it was the least of his problems. The strings kept flowing out of the sphere and started weaving itself into what resembled a cocoon...

 

...In the shape of a man?

 

“Fufufufufu…”

 

The rather curious laughter was from a male voice again but entirely different from the one that had spoken earlier. Kid’s eyes widened as he watched the strings spin itself into what was starting to look more and more like a tall man with blonde hair.

 

“I didn’t really think it would come to this.” The voice was coming from the string human. “But here I am.”

 

“What the fuck?” Kid took a few steps back until he realized he was at the edge of the dome.

 

Not good.

 

The werewolf watched the string until it finished weaving itself. Before him stood a tall blonde man donning a large pink feathered coat and red pointy shades, tilting his head as a wide grin swept over his face.

  
“Guess who’s been a very, _very_ bad dog.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop-dee-doo! Yasss, chapter 21! So just like last chapter, guys, please, please tell me what you think. Thank you!


	22. Where Is He?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t usually put author’s notes in the intro but I feel the need to apologize for not having updated for three months. I’ll ramble on at the end of this chapter but for now, on with the story!

When Eustass Kid first learned of the Trafalgar’s existence in Dressrosa, he was sure he wanted his heart.  _ Literally _ . 

 

The Trafalgars were one of the most significant surviving warlock clans known for their advanced studies in applied mana manipulation. This made them one of the best and at the same time most dangerous clans for parasitic creatures to feed on. It had been a saying among werewolves that feeding on the heart of a single Trafalgar could stabilize their lycan curse for  _ years _ . That allowed them to control their transformations and use their human abilities along with their beastial abilities. It didn’t seem that there was a werewolf lived long enough to justify this rumor, however, which only fueled the story that the Trafalgars were just downright  _ dangerous _ .

 

Not the one that Kid had found, though. 

 

Despite smelling like all sorts of poison and trouble, Kid had deemed Trafalgar Law to be too careless and unguarded to pose a threat. His familiar was unrefined and unlearned, getting lost thoughtlessly in the middle of Dressrosa, irresponsibly talking to strangers, and haughtily neglecting how his actions made him stand out like a sore thumb in broad daylight. What kind of fucked-up stupid training did that Trafalgar give his incubus? Probably none. And that said something. A familiar could only be as careful as its master, after all. So either Trafalgar Law was too damn strong to not even give a fuck about attackers or he was too fucking  _ stupid _ to know that he was in danger. There was no in between. Kid was betting on the latter. Fate, on the other hand, seemed to have other plans.

 

Eustass Kid was now realizing how his decision to go for the Trafalgar’s head had been so fucking  _ wrong _ . They had stalked this prey for several days but despite their diligent research,  _ nothing _ could have prepared him for what this human’s mana lock had in store.

 

The sound of whizzing threads made the red-haired werewolf snap to attention. He was reminded how it was a bad idea to think about horrible life decisions while being enclosed in a possibly curse-laden mana sphere with a tall string-made human that was now starting on the offensive. Kid was initially wary of the range of his opponent’s long limbs but that immediately proved to be the least of his worries. All it took was one swipe of the tall man’s hand for interwoven mana fibers to start coming down like a vicious net out of fucking  _ nowhere _ . Kid jumped back and out of the dome without thinking. Risking the darkness outside was much better than dealing with deadly killer threads head-on.

 

Or not.

 

The bangles on his left arm started clinking violently as if trying to pull him back into the territory he had escaped from. It seemed leaving that space had triggered something. The young werewolf looked down just in time to see dark inscriptions seeping out of his armlet and crawling across his left hand. 

 

Fuck! An inscribed curse was trying to consume him! 

 

The curse seemed to have latched onto the embedded mana in his bangles, making his next course of action to be getting it off his wrists. That was _ if _ his enemy permitted him enough time to think about it. The sound of whistling mana fibers and the puppet’s sinister laugh forced Kid’s entire body to focus all its thoughts and energy on escaping. This was how it felt to be hunted and Kid did not like that one bit. He was  _ not _ prey!

 

Kid ducked and rolled to one side aimlessly. Hearing the shattering of rocks and trees behind him was intimidating but the clinking of his armlet seemed to sound more ominous. The inscriptions had crawled up past his elbow. Damn it, this was becoming annoying! He barely had the mind to dodge more mana threads from his blonde attacker and obviously had no time for other shit!

 

With a chain of profanities at the back of his mind, the werewolf removed his bangles and threw it away, but the curse continued spreading like shadow spiral writings across his skin. No, no, no,  _ not good _ . Not good at all! Kid practically had a one-second heart attack as soon as he realized that he was losing control of his arm or, more accurately, being cursed to cease functioning by shutting down his arm’s life channels one by one. If this continued, it was going to crawl all through his body until he was paralyzed.

 

Warlocks had a name for this kind of mana manipulation and Kid wasn’t clueless.

 

“Silencing.” Kid muttered to himself as he kept moving.

 

He had seen that kind of curse coming as soon as he heard the word “Silence” except he didn’t expect it to manifest  _ this fast _ . And not like  _ this _ . Silencing was a very intricate method that took a long while to execute and to take effect. How in the shit was his arm being disabled with almost no set-up whatsoever? Had the Trafalgars come this far advanced to shorten meticulous and time-consuming mana manipulations? Why was there such a high-level spell protecting the heart of an  _ idiot _ !?

 

Leaping away from his blonde attacker, Kid weaved through the trees that simply splintered like twigs under the unforgiving mana threads. It would be a bitch to lose an arm with all this aggressive chasing he was being subjected to but he’d rather ditch his limb than his entire body. He had no choice.

 

Without slowing down, the werewolf took out a taser-looking device from one of his belt pockets and shot his left shoulder with it. The young wolf howled and jerked in sudden pain. That had almost cost him his demise, as it sent him flying away, crashing through the trees, and barely missing another web of mana strings. Kid fell and rolled, partly aware of how he landed on his left shoulder, which was now unquestionably dislocated but yielded no trace of pain whatsoever. 

 

Shit. His nerves were dead. His arm was dead.

 

Kid retreated behind a large boulder, huffing as quietly as he could, half of his brain trying to be alert as the other half checked on his arm. Fuck. Damn. Shit. He really had no access to it. On the brighter side of things, at least the curse had stopped its progress although there was no telling how damaged his mana channels were underneath. 

 

Kid wanted to roar.

 

Of all the kinds of warlocks to inscribe a curse in that Trafalgar’s mana lock, why the hell did it have to be a high-level  _ Silencer _ !? And what was that blonde  _ thing _ that was chasing him?  Fighting with one arm against that pink-feathered monster was suicide! It wasn’t  _ human _ ! It wasn’t even  _ alive _ ! That  _ creature _ was nothing more than mana in the form of a person being controlled by someone else from who-the-fuck-knew-where. If this toy almost  _ murdered  _ Kid in  _ a few minutes _ , he wasn’t interested in meeting the puppeteer.

 

Two complicated high-tier spells were guarding this flimsy Trafalgar’s heart. How the hell was Kid supposed to have foreseen  _ that _ !? How was  _ anyone _ supposed to have predicted that!?

 

The werewolf swallowed hard despite his throat being dry as he slowly and cautiously peeked from behind the giant rock he was leaning against. Anyone who wanted to know the path that those mana threads from hell had taken only had to look at the carnage in its wake. The shattered rocks and the fallen trees made it look like a hurricane had passed by. How was it possible for a single summon to destroy so much in just five minutes, if not less?

 

Never fuck around with warlocks, indeed!

 

Strangely and perhaps thankfully, the blonde string monster in question only remained standing, no longer interested in hunting Kid. His pink feathered  _ cape _ —what was it even for—almost looked like it was hovering behind his glowing body as he looked down at the unconscious Trafalgar still enclosed in the dome.

 

It appeared that strong blonde motherfucker could only operate from within a range. Or maybe it was mainly designed to defend and not pursue? Moreover, why couldn’t Kid sense anything from the human? If Kid wasn’t looking at his unconscious body on the ground, there would be no other sign that he was there. 

 

Was he dead? Unlikely. So his presence was masked? Silenced? Most probably.

 

This fucking Trafalgar.

 

Whichever the case, the blonde string monster appeared to be more concerned about the passed out human than chasing after Kid. And that was good. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get out of here unnoticed and meet up with the rest of his pack. With as much stealthiness as he could manage, Kid started his way back to where he last left Killer and the rest. He glanced back just to be cautious and found the pink horror lifting its arm as more threads came out from his open palm towards the sky. What was he do— _ Fuck that _ . Kid wasn’t about to stick around to find out what that would be about.

 

“You good-for-nothing red-headed  _ mutt _ !”

 

Luffy had already lodged his shoulder into the Kid’s midsection when the wolf realized the demon was there, both of them falling and rolling on the ground.

 

“I’m going to  _ kill you _ , you four-legged pigeon!”

 

Kid could feel fingers in his red hair, nails digging his scalp, fingers around his neck, a foot on his chest, another foot on his thigh, an arm pressing on his throat, an elbow buried in his shoulder, a knee on his chest, and god damn how many  _ limbs _ did an incubus have!? Right now was not a good time and Kid was made painfully aware that he was one arm less effective tonight. 

 

But wait, if  _ demon slut _ was here, what happened to Killer and everyone else!!?

 

“Where are they!?” Kid kicked Luffy in the midsection, making the demon wince before being sent hurtling away. The wolf stood up, careful not to make it obvious that his arm was limply dangling off his shoulder. 

 

“What have you done to my pack!?”

 

“I’ve  _ dealt _ with them!” Luffy hollered back, teeth bare and fuck him if he thought he was the only one who had fangs. Kid bared his canines, roaring viciously afterwards, which Luffy only scoffed at before charging forward. The red wolf met him head on, claws at the ready, but the Trafalgar’s mana tether had made this demon so much faster that Kid could not follow. Suddenly, Luffy was gone in a whiff of glowing steam and the next thing Kid knew was his jaw being slammed into the ground, a knee on his lower back, and fingers weaving painfully into his hair..

 

God damn. This was _ not _ his night.

 

“Where is he!?” Luffy pushed Kid’s face into the ground.

 

Where was who? Kid wanted to spit at his face.

 

“Where is my human!? What have you done to him!?” 

 

His human? Kid coughed. Oh. The Trafalgar. So it wasn’t a mistake. His presence was indeed masked in the dome but Kid wasn’t really expecting that the demon wouldn’t know that. Why would the human be hidden from his very own familiar? The wolf cursed internally, trying to push himself up with whatever strength he had but once again being reminded that his left arm was no more.

 

“Answer me!” Luffy’s free arm punched Kid in the back, right between the shoulder blades. It was a quick downward jab that jarred his lungs, making him cough harder. 

 

How could something as tiny as this incubus be so damn  _ strong _ !?

 

“Don’t—Don’t have—”

 

“Don’t you fucking lie to me, you overgrown fur coat!” Luffy was hissing, eyes red as he pressed harder. “You have him!”

 

“Took—He took—” Kid felt like his neck was going to snap if he didn’t find a way to tell this deranged incubus where his fuck buddy was. “Trafalgar was taken…!”

 

“He was  _ what _ !?” Luffy lifted Kid’s head and slammed it back on the ground. The werewolf had the endurance of his neck muscles to thank for keeping everything in place. Hurting, but still in place.

 

“By who!? Where!?” Luffy asked again, angrier, and Kid could practically feel his demonic aura violently invading his thoughts in the most vicious of ways. The demon’s crimson stare followed him in his mind like the kind of hunter that incubi weren’t supposed to be. 

 

Kid seriously  _ hated _ being made the prey!

 

“I don’t—!”

 

“I told you, don’t you  _ dare _ lie to me!”

 

“—Don’t know where he is!”

 

“You fucking  _ liar _ !”

 

“The man in the pink coat has him!”

 

Kid yelled more frustrated than scared because the stupid incubus was shit at interrogation. Who the fuck would ask a question and interrupt when being answered!?  _ This _ moron, apparently. That last answer seemed to make the demon pause to think and that gave Kid enough time to at least  _ breathe. _

 

Luffy leaned forward, one knee firmly on Kid’s back as the incubus took the wolf’s good arm—shit, why did it have to be that—and growled. 

 

“You will tell me where he is or I will  _ snap _ every bone in your body I can find.”

 

Thin mana threads fell all around them before Kid could even answer, startling the demon and allowing the wolf to push the small, angry thing off him in an attempt to run away. The threads still proved to be faster, shooting from the sky, planting itself into the ground. It formed a wall around them, preventing Kid to advance any further.

 

“Shit!” Kid reached for two sphere bombs from his belt pocket and threw it at the wires before leaping back and covering his head. There was a large explosion a second later and Kid could hear Luffy yelling something, which he hoped was thanks to the demon getting injured. Good riddance.

 

Smoke billowed out of the explosion with dust, rocks, twigs, and shrapnel flying about but it did nothing to harm the mana fibers. That was not possible. He designed those bombs so that it reversed the poles of the particles of any object. Nothing should have been able to withstand it and yet, like some form of mockery, these  _ strings _ were intact. As Kid looked thoughtfully at the ends of the thread still planted into significantly large crater on the ground, he realized he was now not only injured, he was also trapped.

 

“What is this cage!?” The incubus hollered.

 

Fuck.  _ They _ were trapped.

 

“Do I look like I kn—”

 

Luffy was already punching the threads before Kid could finish his sentence. That proved to be a horrible idea, as the demon’s skin tore where the thread touched, making him wince and step back angrily a blood seeped from his wounds.

 

Great. Kid was caged with this insane, human-obsessed, barbaric incubus with crazy power levels and somewhere in this same vicinity was a tall, deadly pink and blonde  _ thing _ that could decimate the both of them in a minute, in more ways than one. And, oh, he should never forget that there was still the possibility of a Silence curse to pop out of nowhere. Also,  _ he was missing an arm _ . Dammit! What was he to do?! Thinking was  _ Killer’s _ job! Where the fuck was he when he was needed? God damn it, that masked son of a bitch better be alive.

 

“What the hell is this?” The demon shook his hand like he was getting  _ dirt _ off it, blood sprinkling as the wounds on his tattooed fingers healed insanely quick as if the skin stitched itself together. Kid’s eyes narrowed at that. Gross and dense gestures aside, that restorative power was almost as fast as a wolf’s regeneration. That Trafalgar was going to get himself  _ killed _ with the kind of tether he’d engaged him and his demon in. Such a very reckless energy transfer! It was like destroying a dam and letting the raging  _ sea _ in! It was almost confusing how such a strong connection was blocked by a single tiny dome with a Silence curse laid out in a matter of seconds. The Silencer on the Trafalgar’s side  _ had _ to be something else.

 

“What the hell is this cage!?” It didn’t take a second more before Luffy turned to Kid.

 

“I don’t know!” Kid backed away almost instinctively but Luffy managed to grab him by the jaw anyway and throw him back down on the ground.

 

“ _ Liar _ !”

 

Kid yelped like the injured dog he was as he felt some of his ribs snap. Sure, it was nothing he couldn’t regenerate later but it didn’t mean it didn’t  _ hurt _ .

 

“I’m not lying! The pink asshole came out of the Trafalgar’s mana lock and  _ attacked me _ !” Kid punctuated his sentence with a warning bite that only made Luffy punch him in the jaw, successfully dislodging a tooth. The wolf spit blood and glared at the demon, growling as the knocked out canine grew back.

 

“Seeing as it was trying to protect your human, I thought  _ you’d _ know what’s going on!”

 

Luffy stood contemplating for a while, glaring back at the dog pigeon idiot as he did. A pink  _ thing _ protected Law from this? That did not ring any bells and he didn’t have time to interrogate further. It was irking him on hellish levels how he couldn’t sense Law!

 

In fact, Luffy didn’t know how much time had passed since Law’s presence cleared off the face of the planet but he was sure it happened right in the middle of him fighting the wolves. And it wasn’t like Law had moved around or wandered off the mountain. Law just  _ vanished  _ and had not reappeared, which was very,  _ very _ alarming. It was enough to make the incubus panic and ditch his fight with the entire werewolf pack in favor of tracking his human. Whether or not the wolves pursued or died, he didn’t give a shit. His host was his priority. The whole pack could go to hell for all he cared.

 

But now that he’d calmed down somewhat, Luffy realized he could sense Law’s mana trail up to where it just disappeared. It felt like a string with its end cut and left on the ground. Maybe if he followed that, he’d have more clues. 

 

Luffy glaned at Kid.

 

Was he to leave the wolf, though? Or take him?

 

“What?” Kid snarled.

 

Definitely not taking this trash.

 

“You’re staying right where you are.” Luffy said, cracking his knuckles.

 

“Like  _ hell _ I—” 

 

“I wasn’t asking.”

 

With one quick motion, Luffy’s arm lashed out like a whip, a hard, solid mana knuckle hitting Kid at the side of the head. The wolf howled in pain and then fell to the ground unconscious. 

 

Good. Now that  _ that _ was taken care of, Luffy decided to follow Law’s mana trail as quickly as he could. He came to a stop in an area with fallen trees, splintered branches, and holes on the ground. 

 

...And a tall blonde creature with a pink feathered cape. 

 

He looked familiar but Luffy’s brain couldn’t be bothered to figure out who he was yet. The sight of Law’s unconscious body lying on the forest floor took all of his attention. Even more alarming was the fact that Luffy could _still_ not feel Law’s life essence despite seeing the man _right there_.

 

Wait. What was that orb floating over Law’s chest!? A mana lock!?

 

Was he dead!? Dying?! 

 

“Law!” 

 

Ignoring the long-legged stranger, Luffy charged towards his unconscious host enclosed in a dark dome-like film. Mana strings lashed angrily around the demon without warning, forming a criss-crossed wall of threads to keep the incubus from advancing further. Stopping mid-air was impossible for Luffy with this momentum. Luffy got caught in the web, the mana strings drawing blood from his skin that healed instantly, steam hissing from the wound that closed itself immediately. The incubus tumbled back, landing on his feet to regroup but the large blonde stranger was already lodging a heavy knee into the small demon’s midsection to send him hurtling away.

 

Luffy cursed and spun to regain balance mid-air, the bottom of his feet landing on a freshly broken stump. The splinters of what was once a robust tree flew around as he kicked off, aiming to charge back furiously at his new tall enemy until a small thread of light connecting Law and his tall pink adversary caught his eye. Shit. Did that mean he was linked to Law in some way? 

 

This was not the time for Luffy to be putting his deduction skills to the test. He realized that soon enough when he was met by vicious strings shooting like thin spears weaving itself into another giant webbed wall to insistently keep Luffy away from Law. The threw a projected mana arm, grabbing onto the ground until his momentum slowed down to a grinding halt a good distance before he slammed against the deadly webbed fibers. 

 

There was stillness in the air save for the disturbed dust and dirt and the steam ominously dancing around Luffy. The man’s pink feather coat swayed, his eerie glow becoming somewhat brighter in the cloud of dust around them.

 

“Law.” Luffy mumbled but was looking at the tall blonde man who hadn’t moved except to veer his head slightly as if to address the demon’s arrival. Those weird pointy-looking shades made it difficult to tell whether he was actually looking at Luffy or not. 

 

Something told him that he’d seen those shades  _ somewhere  _ before. Television? Poster? Photo? Oh!

 

“Y-you’re Law’s…!” Luffy spoke cautiously as he waited for the dust and steam to clear. Was he Law’s uncle? Cousin? Teacher? Brother? What? Luffy couldn’t get a read on his face  _ or _ his aura. In fact, this man didn’t feel like any creature that Luffy’s encountered before and was more of a blob of moving mana instead of an actual moving body. 

 

A summoned creature? From Law’s heart? Was this pink-feathered thing was a puppet connected from the mana lock? And… And he was trying to protect Law from Luffy?

 

Fuck, that spelled a whole array of information that Luffy’s brain wasn’t ready to process. The mana lock being out meant the stupid red mutt literally got  _ that close _ to getting Law’s heart enough to  _ trigger _ its protective hex. But scratch that.  _ How _ did Law have a mana lock on his heart? And  _ why _ ? And although Luffy wondered  _ who _ could have been responsible for the protective hex, he was mostly relieved it was there or his human would’ve been dead.

 

Still, though, why was this  _ thing _ treating Luffy like an enemy?

 

“Law…!” The demon called out in an effort to stir his human awake. That didn’t seem to make the pink stranger happy judging by how he clicked his tongue almost the same time as mana threads started shooting out of the ground, grabbing Luffy by the legs. And that took the demon by surprise. He didn’t notice how the fine strings had crawled quietly and discreetly across the ground like a giant mana lattice, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. 

 

“What the hell!?!” 

 

Luffy opted to run, to dash, to jump, to  _ flee _ , but the fierce mana strands chased after him. Punching through the reinforced threads was the only thing Luffy could think of doing but even with mana-coated limbs, it didn’t seem to do much. The strings merely reformed where Luffy had punched a hole through its formation. 

 

“Burn, then!”

 

The demon’s arm snapped with a crisp whip-like sound, its speed igniting the mana and air around him, engulfing his arm in flames. Luffy spun, surrounding himself with a ring of angry red and yellow, but the strings only danced like simmering red lines in the fire and embers. It wasn’t long before it was able to snake around his body and pulled at his limbs, eventually slamming the small demon to the ground with a heavy crash. It probably broke some of Luffy’s bones, dislocated his joints, and even tore some tendons but the restorative power of Law’s tether made all that insignificant. Still, it did not change the fact that he was bound. So the demon yelled, trying to fight the strings with whatever mana Law had given him to no avail. Luffy cursed loudly as the threads dragged him towards the blonde adversary, his struggles leaving a trail across the ground.

 

“Let me go!” Luffy screamed, spitting out a leaf that had made its way into his mouth. A rock tore his lip open but that, too, healed quickly.

 

The strings hoisted him up, limbs outstretched and securely bound. Luffy tried to fight the restraints but that only made him bleed, which Law’s mana automatically and quickly healed. Fuck. He was using up too much of the energy his human gave him by incessantly getting injured.

 

“You’re protecting Law, right!?” Luffy huffed, trying his best to calm himself down. “We’re on the same page! I’m not going to hurt him!”

 

“According to you.” Said the blonde man for the very first time. There was a trace of mocking laughter in the way he said it that made Luffy want to grab his thick neck and  _ snap it in two _ . Just to make a point. 

 

But, no. Patience. For Law.

 

The tall string-controlling  _ thing _ approached. Luffy took this chance to look at him properly. His blonde hair was brushed up into clean spikes so that no bangs fell over his forehead, his square jaw tight, his mouth nothing but a thin line under his well-defined nose. There was no mistake. This was the man he saw in Law’s photo book along with Cora-san and Baby Five and everyone else.

 

“Of all things.” The stranger sighed, almost disappointed this time, as he stopped in front of Luffy. “An  _ incubus _ .”

 

“Let me go...!”

 

Luffy sternly told himself he shouldn’t get wounded anymore. Keeping still was difficult, however, with Law being so near yet so far.

 

“See, now, you have this backwards.” The blonde person’s slender finger drew circles in the air before pointing at Luffy then at Law. “ _ You _ let  _ him _ go.”

 

The demon quickly glanced at his human with tattoos still glowing eerily on his body as he lay unconscious on the ground. He tried feeling the man’s thoughts but he was seriously  _ out of reach _ . Luffy could only hope that the dark dome that enclosed over him was  _ friendly _ .

 

“Who  _ the fuck _ do you think you are?” Luffy turned back to the tall creature in front of him.

 

“Did I give you the impression that you’re allowed to ask questions or make demands?” The stranger’s lips drew out a wide grin, teeth flashing slowly across his face like a simmering demented threat. “Surely you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to your precious little Law, right?”

 

“If you touch him…!”

 

It was difficult not to struggle with all the desire to punch this blonde lamp post’s nose into his face.

 

“Touch him? Hurt him? Who do you think fended that wolf off, hm?” The stranger shrugged. “The only threat remaining to Law is  _ you _ .”

 

Luffy grit his teeth.

 

“So here are your options.” The tall mana person spoke before Luffy could say anything, tilting his head and doing odd gestures with his eerily long fingers. “You either stop possessing him and he lives or you stay with him and he dies.”

 

“I’m not possessing him! I would  _ never _ hurt Law!”

 

“You would nev—Oh,  _ you _ .” And then the blonde man laughed sarcastically, waving Luffy’s statement off.

 

“As expected, you fail to understand.  _ Fine _ , half-wit. I’ll explain.” He sighed this time, his long fingers cracking as they moved like tight tentacles. “Long story short, Law connected the both of you in such a way that he can give you as much mana as you need with as little delay as possible, which explains where you’re getting all this power right now.”

 

Luffy just kept on frowning. He already knew that,  _ d-uh _ . Law established a connection  _ so clear _ that the man’s high quality mana gushed into him like a raging river and required no extra effort for them to look into each others thoughts and feelings. What was of greater concern to Luffy was how this creature knew about it.

 

“ _ But…”  _ Blondie cleared his throat as if he knew how Luffy’s thoughts were straying. “...With how he did it solely out of desperation and no manner of technique or professionalism  _ at all _ , this whole…”

 

The man disgustedly waved at the space between Law and Luffy like he was unsure what to call something ugly. 

 

“...This  _ hideous _ excuse for a tether ended up being incorrect and ineffective. I don’t even want to  _ look _ at how he’s just continuously giving you whatever he can without stopping until his condition is satisfied.”

 

Yeah, well Luffy knew that, too. And it wasn’t a  _ hideous _ connection, in Luffy’s opinion. It was reckless, yes, but what choice did Law have? Besides, if Luffy won, there was nothing to worry about, right? The tether would stop and Law could keep his mana to himself once again.

 

“The condition  _ is _ satisfied! I  _ won _ !”

 

_ We’re going home! _

 

“Oh? Riddle me this. Why hasn’t the tether stopped, then?” 

 

Luffy closed his mouth upon hearing the question he had dared not ask himself. The tattoos were still on both of them. It only meant that either the tether had not stopped or the bond was  _ breaking _ if not already broken. He couldn’t feel Law at all. Unless some strong-ass force was hiding him, their contract might as well be on the way to being shattered.

 

“Do you even know what Law meant when he said  _ win _ ?”

 

Yes. Luffy did. Or at least he thought he did. The tether was clear. He  _ must _ be correct in his interpretation, right? The condition was to defeat the wolves and survive. He  _ had _ to be correct! 

 

But despite the raging urge to insist on his correctness, Luffy could not bring himself to tell the man to fuck off. Something deep inside was nagging him to rethink everything, that he might have gotten something  _ wrong _ . Like a predator smelling weakness, the blonde stranger shook his head and scoffed at Luffy’s unconfident air.

 

“See, this is why people who aren’t warlocks shouldn’t play around with mana like this. They  _ fuck up. _ ” 

 

“B-but L-Law is…! He...He might be…!”

 

The stutter in his voice was almost too annoying to his own ears. Why was he hesitating!? What was he scared of!?

 

“Law might be  _ what _ ?  _ A warlock _ ?” 

 

Luffy wanted to say “yes” but it seemed this blonde creature took offense in what was said. The veins on his forehead popped angrily as he stepped closer towards Luffy so he could lean up and challenge him. Even with the heavy tint of his shades hiding the expression of his eyes and even with that crescent moon of a smile, it was obvious that he was quite  _ infuriated _ . The way the mana that made him up  _ spiked _ said everything.

 

But the demon stared right at him.

 

“You  _ seriously think _ he’s a warlock because he can control mana like this? You think this  _ trash performance _ is  _ awesome _ ?” The man leaned defiantly at Luffy. “You are a funny, funny little thing, you. Calling Law a warlock just because he can control mana impressively is like saying anyone who can run fast is a running athlete, or that anyone who knows how to treat wounds is a doctor.”

 

Thick fingers grabbed Luffy’s jaw in a hold so tight that the demon feared his teeth might shatter. The man’s aura was getting heavier with each second as if trying to cast a big shadow over Luffy to swallow and drown him once and for all.

 

How could a mere unified body of mana be so  _ intimidating _ ?

 

“Listen to me, you  _ monkey _ . A warlock would  _ never _ issue a command with an infinite or indefinite cost.” The man’s breath was low, heavy, and  _ sinister _ but Luffy kept on staring at him, his shades, whatever. He had decided to stand his ground even if it only meant he’d glare back but what the man said later shattered almost all of Luffy’s resolve.

 

“Do you know what “ _ no matter what the cost _ ” means? It means it’s going to keep on feeding you mana until his life or someone else’s burns out.” 

 

Luffy’s eyes widened and his heart practically froze when the tall, blonde mana creature pointed at his human lying unconscious on the ground.

 

“And as his command stands, there is no other life to burn but  _ his _ . If not for that sphere silencing Law’s existence from this world, you would have drained all the mana out of him and he would  _ die _ without a doubt. You think that’s worth it?”

 

Luffy couldn’t answer. He just kept on staring at Law’s unmoving body.

 

“Yeah.” The fingers heavily left his jaw. “I didn’t think so.”

 

It was annoying and humiliating to admit, but this unidentified  _ thing _ was right. Law  _ did _ say “no matter what the cost”. And if Luffy was to be completely honest, he didn’t check what Law meant when he said “win”. He just knew Law wanted him to win but as for the conditions to consider him “won”, Luffy had no fucking clue. He just knew Law wanted the wolves “dealt with” but he didn’t check for specifics either. 

 

With a connection  _ that clear _ , Luffy  _ still _ failed to follow instructions. How could he be this  _ useless _ !? Heaven smite him  _ now _ !

 

“ _ Well then _ , if you won’t release this human, I  _ will  _ find other means to do so.” 

 

That snapped Luffy back to attention. He couldn’t mean—

 

“You  _ know  _ what I mean, don’t you, demon?”

 

Fuck.

 

“No! Not that! That method might kill him!” Luffy struggled against the restraints, wounding himself in the process and fuck, Luffy wasn’t sure what to do anymore. He’d heard of the methods warlocks used to extract demons and spirits that possessed human bodies. It was painful and merciless, leaving both the parasite and its host heavily injured and even demented, if not dead. Law wasn’t strong enough for that. It was dangerous. He shouldn’t!

 

“Law will die if you—!”

 

“This tether is just going to drain him of his life essence until  _ nothing of him is left _ , you stupid monkey. So either he dies thanks to you being stubborn or he survives thanks to your sacrifice. Between you and him, who do you think will I choose to protect, hm?”

 

The man sounded impatient. Luffy was too worried for Law to give a shit about that although he should. This puppet could save his human if he played his cards right. But what card did Luffy have left to play?

 

“But I  _ can’t _ !” Luffy screamed desperately, the corners of his eyes feeling wet and strained. His head felt like it was going to explode. “I literally  _ can’t _ let him go even if I wanted to! I’m a snared  _ familiar _ ! I’ve tried freeing myself from the very first day but  _ nothing worked _ ! He has my entire name! He has  _ all of me  _ and only Law can make me go!”

 

The honest stream of words and emotions seemed to have given the blonde man enough information and he straightened, relaxing, contemplating. He turned around wordlessly, the feathers of his coat gently fluttering with his movement. The demon huffed, hearing his own heart in his ears as each second felt like a century. The silence was disturbing and Luffy felt like he needed to say more.

 

“If you exorcise me out, he’s going to die!”

 

The man scoffed but didn’t even look at Luffy when he spoke.

 

“You’re afraid to die, incubus?”

 

Afraid to die? Not a chance. Luffy would do  _ anything _ for his human!

 

“I’ll die for Law if it meant saving him but not even  _ he _ knows the conditions he set for our bond!” Luffy watched the man with the pink cape walk towards Law as if to study him. “If one of us gets killed, there’s no telling if the other won’t die as well!”

 

The tattoos on Luffy’s skin started glowing as if trying to break free. His restraints tightened, drawing more blood from wounds that healed and reformed from how Luffy struggled to make his point. He hoped it got across. He  _ had _ to get it across!

 

“Are you  _ listening to me _ !?” Luffy’s fangs protruded with a hiss and a crimson glare, his mana spiking high with his emotions but that wasn’t enough to make the tall person turn to look at him.

 

“You’re too loud, monkey.” He didn’t even shrug or tilt his head. 

 

“Fuck you! I  _ love _ this man!”

 

“Can you shut the fuck up?”

 

The pink-donning creature lifted a hand and snapped his fingers but what resonated was an entirely different but familiar voice.

 

_ “Silence.” _

 

It was the last thing Luffy heard before he could hear no more, not even the name of his beloved that escaped his own lips.

 

* * *

  
It was the opposite for Law. Despite being unconscious, his world was anything but silent. His eyes were closed but he saw bizarre things instead of darkness. The distorted ceiling spattered with stars and laden with clouds shook amidst the odd lights, thunder, voices, and even static noise. He could make out Cora-san talking. And his Uncle Doffy. Baby Five. Some others he didn’t recognize. Law would like some peace and quiet even if it was just for a moment. Law would like to hold Luffy’s hand.

 

He groaned. Or at least he thought he did. It took too much effort for him to actually  _ do _ anything. Even the most involuntary activities like breathing was tiresome. He felt so  _ light _ , though, which was peculiar because he could also ironically feel something heavy pressing down on him and pulling at his limbs in an alternate fashion. It made no sense.

 

Perhaps he was drugged and his brain was fucked up.  Law couldn’t figure.

 

“Law...”

 

It was Luffy’s voice. He sounded like he was smiling and relieved. Thank goodness.

 

“Law...”

 

The man struggled to open his eyes, turning his head to the side to steer away from the harsh lights around him. After much effort, his eyelids peeled open, expecting to see Luffy’s face but didn’t. 

 

What was next to him was a horror.

 

There lying shoulder to shoulder next to him was a body that had Law’s own face with dead open eyes staring right back at him. His lips were purple. His skin was pale. There were spatters of blood on his cheeks and neck. The tattoos on his skin had faded into patches of maroon.

 

The body was not breathing.

 

Yet the carcass spoke in Luffy’s voice.

 

“Law, help me.”

  
And that was too much. The next thing Law remembered was the sound of his own frightened screams before everything fell into deafening silence.

 

...Until there was a beeping sound, voices of people, the smell of medicine and air conditioner.

 

Shit, what was these topsy-turvy of events? Was he even really awake now?

 

Perhaps it was because Law had been immersed in different medical situations despite his few years of experience that he had basically memorized the feel of a medical environment. The intonation of people talking, the overheard words they used in conversation, the smell of the bedding, the whiff of medicine, and perhaps even the clinking of medical apparatus were all too familiar that Law didn’t even have to open his eyes to know that he was in an emergency room.

 

But what happened? Why was he here? Where was Luffy?

 

Law groaned, trying to feel if he’d lost or broken any part of his body. Strangely enough, he didn’t feel any cement cast or braces on his limbs. There was only the feeling of an IV on his left arm. Now if he only needed proper fluids in his veins then he absolutely got out of the werewolf situation quite lightly.

 

But what of Luffy?

 

Law tried to move his fingers to feel around him but it proved to be a bit more difficult than he thought. Next to him, someone made a very low sound, more out of attention than surprise. Perhaps there was an attending nurse close by. Law slowly tried to open his eyes, his eyebrows scrunching as he struggled to deal with the light that was peeking from between the curtains surrounding his hospital bed. His vision immediately swept across the ceiling but even something that simple almost induced motion sickness. Law hated how he couldn’t put a finger on what was wrong with him.

 

Oh. Maybe what’s wrong was that his demon was nowhere near him. After all, there was  _ no way _ Luffy would allow himself to be apart from his human after the hellish episode that transpired.

 

So  _ where was he _ ?

 

“Luffy…” He only realized he’d said something after the name was out of his lips.

 

“You’re awake.”

 

The baritone voice that spoke next to him was so low, it was startling. Law would’ve fidgeted if he could but the most he could do was wriggle his toes in surprise. 

 

“Vergo.” Law mumbled, his voice uneven. 

 

A large muscular man wearing thin, rectangular sunglasses, and a white trench coat walked towards the curtain and quietly peeked outside, nodding at someone else. He looked very basic except for his lightning shaped sideburns. 

 

If this man was here, then whoever he was working for was probably here, too.

 

“—him back, then?” Another all-too-familiar voice said behind the curtains before a tall blonde man with red pointy shades stepped into Law’s vision. He was donning a deep red suit and wore dark gloves on his fingers. It was only when Law wondered where his trademark pink feathered coat went that he noticed Vergo holding onto it.

 

Strangely, just seeing his  _ Uncle Doffy _ made Law nauseous. Behind the dark pointy shades, Law knew that the man was studying him. His uncle’s mouth wordlessly drew itself into a thin line across his face as Law tried to lift his own head. The master of the Donquixote family stood there for a while, making a sound that was a cross between laughing and grumbling. Law’s head just fell back on the bed, frowning without knowing it as he fought the feelings of hate and guilt and worry that brewed in his stomach just by seeing his uncle. 

 

All these feelings made his fingers twitch, trying to find Luffy’s to hold onto for some sense of relief. Law wondered absently if reaching for Luffy was starting to become his knee-jerk reaction to immediate stress.

 

“Well, he’s alive. That’s what matters.” Doflamingo finally shrugged as he waved his hand before turning around. “He’s always been a frail child, after all.”

 

And just like that, the tall blonde man walked away, seemingly already talking to someone else in a distance.

 

“He says that like it _means_ _something_.” Law grumbled to no one in particular, gritting his teeth before turning to the large person next to him. “Vergo, where is Luffy?”

 

“Who?”

 

The word made him sound like a deep-voiced owl. 

 

“Luffy.” Law repeated with much effort. “My—”

 

“You were brought here alone.” Vergo interrupted like he either remembered who Luffy was or didn’t want to know. 

 

“Brou—ght—Brought here...?” Law coughed, his throat seemingly choked by the sudden news that he was not here with Luffy. “By who?”

 

“I was not informed.”

 

“How did you know I was here?” Law’s eyes trailed from the IV on his hand, along the thin plastic tubing, up to the small plastic bottle that held the fluid that was being administered into his veins. Vergo sat down formally on the small chair next to Law’s bed.

 

“I was not told either but it is probable that a person found your wallet where you had written down Donquixote Rocinante and his details under person to contact in case of emergency.”

 

Oh? His  _ wallet _ made it out of Punk Hazard? Well, that was some news considering its owner almost didn’t survive. But it was a good thing his wallet  _ did _ make it out of that chaotic fiasco in one piece. Otherwise, a random person wouldn’t have found Cora-san’s contact details and Law would’ve been bleeding to death if not already eaten by Eustass Kid. 

 

But what  _ did _ happen to Eustass Kid? Last Law remembered, the red-haired werewolf was trying to gouge his heart out. How did Law end up being found by a random stranger? Did someone who wasn’t Luffy beat up Kid for him and just brought him to the hospital? Law’s brain had frantically flicked on the “something’s not right” switch but there were more important questions to be asked.

 

Where the hell was Luffy?!

 

Law winced as his chest tightened. Thinking about the safety of his demon made him anxious. He could only hope that the tattoos on his skin—no matter how faded they seemed to appear—meant that Luffy was alive. 

 

“How are you feeling?” Vergo asked as he tilted his head slightly.

 

“My phone?” Law gasped, trying to keep himself focused. He had no idea where Luffy was at the moment but there was a chance that Luffy had his phone. And if that phone had  _ somehow _ made it to Law with his wallet then that meant his demon had gotten to him at some point after Law lost consciousness.   
  


“Your retrieved belongings only included your wallet and your keys.” Vergo’s tone was too formal for Law’s tastes. “You are also missing a shoe.”

 

“Fuck the shoe…!” The last word escaped as a pissed-off breath before Law nodded at Vergo. “I need to know where Luffy is. Ask them where my boyfriend is…!”

 

The large man did not even budge.

 

“You were brought here alone.”

 

Yes, that had to be brought up again because Law  _ obviously _ wasn’t informed of that the first time, was he?

 

“You al—ready—told me tha—that!” Law was wheezing from having to repeat himself more times than the situation called for. “That’s why I’m—I’m as—I’m ask—!”

 

“Lie down, young master.” Vergo finally stood up and it was only then that Law noticed that he was trying to get out of bed. That proved to be too much for him, though, because his vision started swaying and his breathing started to hitch sharply. 

 

“Don’t—Don’t fu—Call…!!”

 

_ Don’t call me young master! _

 

Big and deep inhales came in between syllables. His chest felt like it was going to cave in. Fuck. If this continued, he was going to pass out again. And he didn’t want to rest yet. Not until he’d been assured that Luffy was okay and that Luffy knew  _ he _ was okay.

 

“Young master.”

 

What was the point of being called “young master” if Vergo wouldn’t do as he said?! This aggravation only fueled his difficulty to breathe!

 

Law’s hands reached aimlessly for some anchor to keep him up as an attempt to stay awake. His palms painfully hit a solid cold surface, probably the side table, his fingers fumbling against whatever he could grab. His own breathing proved to be too loud even amidst the distinct rattling of his keys and the clatter of aluminium tools against the tiles. There was some commotion beyond the thick hospital curtains where voices echoed louder than they probably were.

 

“You’re not well. You need rest.”

 

Law could vaguely register Vergo’s large hands on his shoulders as the corners of his vision started to turn black. The man was still talking but his words came out as slow, garbled noises that only annoyed Law further until the curtains opened again and in came happiness taken form.

 

“Law!”

 

Luffy. It was Luffy.

 

Law did not know the meaning of joy until this moment. He weakly shoved Vergo away, extending his arms towards Luffy because he’d missed him, missed him,  _ missed him _ .

 

“Here…!”

 

Luffy didn’t need to be told twice. He threw himself into Law’s waiting arms, his legs dangling off the bed as they awkwardly held each other with Law breathing into his hair. Luffy had no shirt, was wearing torn pants, and smelled of dirt and sweat and yet, Law reveled in it in a way he never imagined he would. His demon was  _ alive _ .  _ Luffy _ was alive and  _ here _ . With  _ him _ .

 

His beautiful demon then knelt next to his bed, holding Law’s trembling hand before kissing the human’s fingers so lovingly. And that was all the reassurance he needed. Luffy’s lips against Law’s skin felt was so warm and real, chasing every other bad dream he had been having in succession. Law could feel his chest tightening again as his mouth immediately went dry but it didn’t matter. He was too happy for it to matter, not when Law could now caress Luffy’s cheeks and run his fingers through his dry hair. 

 

“Are you…” Law croaked, not sure what he wanted to ask first. Are you okay? How did you get here? Where are the wolves? Did you escape them? Where are your clothes? Are you mad at me? There were too many for Law’s exhausted brain to choose one.

 

“You aren’t hu—hurt, are you?” His large hand stroked Luffy’s hair as lovingly as he could in between wheezes. “Are—Are—Are you okay?”

 

“I am.” Luffy purred and then sighed. “Are  _ you _ okay, muffin?”

 

Law never thought he would miss the quirky little nicknames Luffy had for him. Why did he ever complain about those terms of endearment? How many people living on the planet could brag about being  _ this loved _ ?

 

The man sighed, running his thumb across the scar under Luffy’s left eye.

 

“I am now.”

 

Three words. It almost sounded like “I love you” but it wasn’t. Yet it made Luffy’s eyes brim with tears in an instant, his knees feeling weak and his toes feeling tingly.

 

“Laaaaaaw…!” Luffy wailed loudly, clinging onto his human for dear life, not caring at all what they looked like. He loved this man. He loved him  _ so much _ . 

 

“How’d you know I was here, though?” Law whispered, trying to lie on his side but Luffy stopped him.

 

“I brought you here.” The demon narrated as he pushed Law slightly and settled to lie on his side on the small space next to his human. This wasn’t the kind of behavior Law would normally tolerate in a hospital but he and his tiny boyfriend had just survived a werewolf attack. He could not be bothered to give a drop of a fuck about public displays of affection especially if being lovey-dovey with Luffy was going to save his mental health.

 

“You were the one who called Cora-san?” Law tried to move the IV away from getting snagged by Luffy. Vergo’s large hand suddenly came out of nowhere and helped him out.

 

“I had to, pumpkin.” Luffy nodded, hugging Law’s torso with one arm. “I mean, did you know they asked if I had money before they could try to save your life?!”

 

“Yeah, people can be asses.” Law dropped a kiss on Luffy’s head before he looked up at Vergo who only remained standing there throughout the whole exchange.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me my boyfriend was the one who called!?”

 

“I didn’t know he was your boyfriend.” Vergo shrugged and Law could feel the knotting of his eyebrows begging to be smoothened.

 

“I swear to  _ god _ , Vergo...”

 

Luffy’s small hand came up and touched Law’s cheek. And that was the end of that.

 

“Hey, now, that’s enough, munchkin. I need you to—”

 

“Rest. I know.” Law sighed, pressing his nose against Luffy’s cheek and taking a deep breath. “But you need to rest, too.”

 

“I will. I just…”Luffy laughed slightly as he kissed Law’s cheek in response. “Need to talk to your uncle for a bit.” 

 

Law’s body to stiffened and his face to warp into a suspicious frown that made Luffy explain further.

 

“I mean,  _ he’s _ the one that helped out after all.”

 

Law was the least bit convinced. Didn’t they have all the time they needed to talk while he was unconscious? Why did they have to talk  _ now _ that he was awake? And what were they going to talk about? Like, fuck, his uncle barely said anything to him and now he wanted to talk to Luffy? Okay,  _ sure _ , Law was half-alive and having coughing fits before Luffy came in like a ray of life and sunshine but  _ still _ …Well, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to let them talk. Maybe Luffy’s radiance would melt the mean layers his Uncle Doffy wore. Perhaps this was good.

 

“If he does something shitty, promise to tell me.” Law gently ruffled Luffy’s hair.

 

“I promise.” Luffy sat up and got out of the bed, pulling the blanket up, and tucking his boyfriend in and placing a kiss on his nose. “I also promise cuddles when I get back.”

 

Law smiled softly and nodded before closing his eyes. Luffy giggled and turned to go. He’d barely closed the curtain behind him when he caught a glimpse of Law’s uncle or at least the vessel that looked like him—Donquixote Doflamingo, he called himself—waiting across the hall. The man didn’t even nod at him before he walked out the doorway and Luffy wasn’t an idiot not to know he was meant to follow. It barely took them a while of walking stealthily amongst unsuspecting humans before they disappeared into a nearby alley and reappearing on the empty rooftop. 

 

“He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” The incubus asked, his voice almost getting drowned by the wind. It was still dark. Luffy wondered how many more hours until daybreak.

 

“I promised, didn’t I?” Doflamingo sounded so sure but also so sarcastic. “Now for  _ your _ end of the bargain.”

 

Luffy took a deep breath as he felt the gentle breeze through his hair. Weird symbols slowly started to appear across his forehead. He couldn’t see but he knew it was there. It was a simple contract. More of a trade, to be honest. It wasn’t going to hurt him or Law so Luffy wasn’t sure why he was hesitant, not that he had a choice.

 

“You swear it’ll be just  _ that _ memory?” He asked shakier than he intended his voice to come out.

 

“On my honor.” Doflamingo did a weird curtsy that Luffy wanted to comment on but at weird crescent smile of his made Luffy drop that thought. At least he wouldn’t have to remember  _ that smile _ after he said his next words.

 

“You can have my end of the bargain.”

 

Luffy didn’t know if he imagined it but he thought he heard Doflamingo laugh just before the sealing word of the deal echoed in Luffy’s head.

  
_ “Silence _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First update of the year!! This should’ve been up way, way earlier but life happened (as it always does) and it got in the way of me getting this chapter the way I wanted it to. To be honest, I almost dropped this fic because I figured it was so difficult for readers to follow now but this is my first LawLu and One Piece multichapter fic. I wanna see it through to the end. I hope you guys aren’t tired of Snare yet! Thank you if you’ve kept on reading after around three months of no update. Please let me know what you think! I would appreciate it a lot! Thanks very much!


	23. Demon Stress

 

It wasn’t a kind of morning Luffy would expect from Law but it certainly wasn’t unwanted either. After all, an incubus wasn’t one to complain about being bent over a table while being taken from behind even if it was, indeed, “working hours”.

 

“Nhh… Ahhh… L-Law… Law…”

 

Slapping sounds of skin against skin, grunts, and heavy breathing filled the university’s infirmary. The demon clung desperately onto the edges of the table, fingers slipping with sweat and movement, face buried on Law’s bunched up coat that he bit onto to muffle what would have been screams of pleasure. His shirt was pushed messily up to his chin and both their pants were down to their thighs. Behind him, Law’s open shirt was coming off his shoulders and if Luffy tilted his head right, he could see the drops of sweat trickling down his inked chest with nipples hardened and oh, dear heavens, if given a chance, Luffy would be delighted to lick those until Law orgasmed right the fuck now.

 

“A-ah!” Luffy yelped as Law thrust in really hard, the table squeaking across the floor, pushing a small heap of fallen papers and pens. The aluminum pen holder rolled away like it was embarrassed of what was happening.

 

“Pay attention.” Law grunted as the fingers on Luffy’s hips tightened so good.

 

“Mmhh… Ahh.. S-sor—Ah!”

 

The table inclined significantly, its feet complaining against the tiles and almost tipping over that Luffy squeaked in surprise. The demon’s knuckles were almost white from trying to hold onto the desk _and_ his sanity because it was so difficult to keep quiet with Law being so, so blissfully _harsh_ , fucking him into oblivion like there was no tomorrow.

 

“Want to stop?” The man asked, voice still thick and sexy between huffs.

  
“No!” Luffy lifted his head to turn around and look at Law. “No, plea—Ah!”

 

Holy hell. With how _fierce_ Law was going, Luffy might have to find something else to hold onto because god damn, he just might snap this table in two. It was such a _chore_ trying to breathe while moaning while being fucked so good while trying not to break the desk _while_ trying to keep quiet _._

 

The demon whined in pleasure and sobbed in pleasure. He couldn’t begin to even understand what was going on. Suddenly, Law wanted him so much that he decided to just have sex in the infirmary. And Luffy _wanted_ this. He absolutely _loved_ this.

 

“Excuse me?! Doctor!?”

 

Outside the room, an unfamiliar girl’s voice called with three light knocks on the door. Luffy immediately lifted his head only for Law’s large hand to push it back down, mashing his demon’s face into the coat. A sound that was half-moan, half-gasp escaped Luffy’s throat as he whimpered against Law’s hold because, yes, fuck, _give it to me, Law_.

  
“Stay. Down.”

 

Law’s voice. Law’s husky voice was just… so...

 

“D-door…” The demon panted, voice muffled by the position of his head on the table as Law pressed down on him. “Law, the…  The…”  
  
“I don’t care.” Law whispered thickly into Luffy’s ear, lips barely brushing against his skin. “ _I don’t care_.”

 

Luffy released a prolonged moan into Law’s coat. He didn’t care either, really. All he wanted to do was let Law enjoy him until both of them climaxed into an explosion of bliss.

 

How Law’s hand managed to snake its way down, Luffy didn’t know. The demon’s hips bucked, throwing them off their rhythm for a short while but Law didn’t seem to mind. He was too busy picking up his pace and deliciously slamming into the tight body beneath him.

 

“I don’t fucking _care_ , Luffy.”

 

The fingers pumping on his hardness, the length that was invading him from behind, the warm body against his own, and the knocking on the door was starting to tear at Luffy’s consciousness. There seemed to be too much going on that it was unfair. He was an _incubus_ . Law shouldn’t have this much power over him. And just when Luffy thought Law couldn’t screw up his head any further, he sped up his pace—shit, fucking _how_ —thrusting heavily and basically pounding into him that it was entirely surprising how the damn desk hadn’t shattered yet.

 

The demon panted desperately as Law kept on working his hips like _magic_ , reducing Luffy into a sweaty mess of loud, unintelligible noises. His moans were getting louder as if trying to compete with the table started to sway and creak like some countdown to his release because he was almost there. Almost. _Almost._

 

Nope.

 

In one snap, Luffy was empty and cold. He stirred awake and alone on a bed, suddenly painfully aware that everything was a dream.

 

What. The. Fuck.

 

Luffy’s eyes were still closed, but he was awake nonetheless. And hard. _Very_ hard. In fact, his hand had already travelled south to soothe the pain between his legs in his sleep.

 

“Ah…!” Luffy gasped, feeling his hand move on its own under the blanket, his hips agreeing with it. The demon bit his lip, trying to muffle his breathing along with any other sound he was going to make. It felt so strange touching himself especially with Law in the same room. Perhaps Luffy should check if Law was awake before he tried dealing with his… problem?

 

It seemed forever before Luffy could open his eyes into a measly squint. In the darkness of the room, he could make out Law’s form on the bed. There was still that plastic tube connected to his left hand. It looked painful when they inserted a needle into his skin. Luffy had been so scared of touching it or accidentally making it worse.

 

Until now, Luffy had not experienced stress so heavy, it gave him dreams real enough to make him want to cry. Had this been a normal day, he would’ve immediately jumped on Law and _engaged_ him but now wasn’t a good time. His human was still recovering. That was the main reason why they were in this hospital after all.

 

It had been hours ago since Doflamingo and Vergo had left them, entrusting Luffy with the responsibility of taking care of Law. The hospital only allowed one watcher per patient over night and Luffy was willing to go as far as break bones if anyone suggested him being separated with his human. Mingo, however—his name was too complicated for Luffy to pronounce—didn’t seem to be interested in either Law or hospitals and was quite fine with leaving. They would be back tomorrow with his brother, he said. Why did this tall person came over when he called Cora-san again? He couldn’t recall. In fact, he couldn’t remember much. It seemed Law wasn’t the only one whose mental faculties weren’t in good form.

 

Luffy had been disoriented before but what he was dealing with now was a lot different. He was dizzy, confused, and _lightheaded_. Waking up frustrated from a dream like that only made it worse. The demon slowly closed his eyes, silently telling himself that he should be thankful that he was lying on a bed, not the floor; that he had been given a change of clothes; that they were safe and not being pursued by predators in the misty mountain of Punk Hazard anymore. But the watcher’s bed in Law’s hospital room was too small and foreign. Lying on it alone made Luffy feel cold. He was used to sheets and pillows that smelled like Law. More than that, he was already used to having his human right next to him every night.

  
“Law.” He mumbled absently, finding drops of strength from saying his human’s name.

 

“Hey.” Law whispered almost inaudibly. The fact that he was actually awake almost made Luffy bite too hard. Argh. What kind of familiar was he if he was trying to relieve himself while his master was sick and suffering?

 

“Hey.” Luffy slowly pushed the blanket off him as he sat up. His head felt like it was going to swell and explode but he endured. “Are you okay, munchkin? Do you need anything?”

 

“Come here.” Law’s voice was softer and weaker than what Luffy was used to. That realization alone made him bundle up all his strength to get up and walk towards his human. He was still quite hard but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. He was an incubus after all.

 

“What’s up? Why aren’t you asleep?” The demon whispered, bending over and placing a gentle kiss on Law’s forehead. He was careful not to hit the slender plastic tube that was connected to Law’s arm.

 

Why was everything about this place so _dull_ and _scary_? The private room that Law was staying in was spacious with a flat screen television, a sofa set, a watcher’s bed, and cabinet drawers. It even had its own bathroom but staying here was anything but cozy. The entire building smelled of chemicals that Luffy wasn’t quite fond of. He could also faintly sense disease and heavy emotions. It was such a difficult place to be. How on earth could anyone recover in this concrete cage?

 

“How are you?” Law tried to reach for Luffy’s hair. Luffy bent closer, moving his head towards the tattooed hand and reveled in the man’s touch. He caught a whiff of Law’s scent and he smelled _so good_. The drop of comfort it had only made Luffy better realize how much stress he was currently under.

 

“I’m okay.” The demon smiled, sighing a bit as the fingers left his hair. “I worry more about you, sunshine.”

 

“What happened to Eustass Kid?” Law asked and Luffy wondered if the man was eluding questions about his health.

 

“E-Eustass…” Luffy frowned, trying to recall. “Eustass Kid…”

 

“The wolf. The red werewolf.”

 

“I know.” Luffy nodded, slowly sitting on the bed as he searched his thoughts. “I punched the lights out of him and then… And then...”

 

And then... What?

 

Now that he was thinking back, it seemed that the later events from Punk Hazard were a very surreal blur. Luffy could recall knocking Kid out and then finding Law’s unconscious body on the ground but it was a whole jumble of confusing from there. If Luffy remembered correctly—he probably didn’t—everything went black and then he was waking up with his back on the ground as a faceless, colorless creature loomed over him.

 

Luffy had never encountered anything like it. He didn’t have any proper recollection of its features that even in his memory, everything around that thing just distorted into a mess of warped lines and colors. Luffy’s perception of its height and size was strangely off, too. It had no face and looked more like a string wound over and over to haphazardly form the shape of a wobbly human whose only colors were splotched swirls of red, gold, black, and white. All four of its limbs were long and willowy, fingers splayed out and moving like creepy stalks.

 

Luffy could vaguely recall briefly hearing it speak through his mind—he couldn’t even remember its voice—about taking Law to the nearest hospital, and asking the people there to help him call Cora-san via Law’s phone.

 

And then it dissolved.

 

First, it lost color and then it lost its already shape before collapsing into a shapeless coil of strings hissing back into _Law’s heart_ . Just before it disappeared completely, it flashed a creepy wide smile as if to give Luffy something to think about. Being _bothered_ was the last thing Luffy thought of doing, though. All he wanted to do at that point was get Law out of Punk Hazard.

 

“Luffy.” Law called, his pinky trying to scratch at Luffy’s arm to get his attention.

 

“I…”  Luffy was still too bothered by that thing he saw to properly pay attention. “I can’t remember. I don’t… I…”

 

Was it even real? Or was it the mist? The creature did seem to go back into Law’s chest. Did that mean it was _from_ Law? Was it Law’s consciousness speaking to him? Because that could happen. He’d heard that desperation could drive humans to do various things. Was it astral projection? Judging by what Luffy had seen Law do when faced with dire situations, him conjuring up that creature was not far from impossible.

 

“I don’t…” Luffy shook his head again. His head was starting to hurt and Law’s smell was starting to become more and more enticing.  
  
“It’s okay, Luffy.” Even Law’s voice was more inviting. “Don’t force yourself if you can’t remember.”

 

Law touched Luffy’s thigh probably because it was within his reach but that’s not what Luffy’s brain figured. His dick immediately twitched and Luffy had to stop breathing before some inappropriate sound came out of his lips.

 

“I’m sorry.” Law was saying now and Luffy had every intention of asking him what he was apologizing for but those slender tattooed fingers _squeezed_ his thigh. Luffy’s traitorous throat _moaned_.

 

Law’s eyes immediately fell to his own hand to check if he might have been touching somewhere inappropriate. Half of Luffy wanted that hand to grab his crotch. The other half wanted to slap himself back to sanity. The man had barely pressed on his leg but _somehow_ , air was already becoming scarce.

 

“Luffy?” Law lightly grazed his fingers against the material of Luffy’s clothes, just barely enough to matter. But Luffy was hot and bothered so _everything_ about Law mattered.

  
“Mmmh.” Luffy’s eyelids fell, lifting his head as he squirmed and twitched. He feel _sensations_ from his dream, of being bent over the table and being gloriously _claimed_ . The next squeeze on his thigh was a little higher and a little harder this time, just enough for Luffy just made a high-pitched sound that sent heat straight into Law’s groin and _fuck_.

 

Luffy could smell Law being aroused.

 

“Luffy.” Law huffed, fingers teasingly crawling towards Luffy’s crotch and Luffy was fucking _gone._

 

The man could barely gasp when the incubus turned and leaned forward at the same time, mashing their lips together. Perhaps diving Law was too rough but Luffy couldn’t help it. His stress. That dream. Law’s hand. Law’s smell. And now Law’s taste. God, he was sweet like fine wine.

 

For the first time in this relationship, Law wasn’t trying to dominate the kiss. The demon could feel the mattress sink as he pressed just a tiny bit harder, his head tilting so he could savor more of Law and drink the moans that were spilling out of his parted lips. Law’s free hand moved just a second later, seemingly tugging at the end of Luffy’s shirt.

 

What was it? Air? Did he need air?

 

Luffy pulled away slightly—very slightly because too far might be unbearable—just to allow himself to look at his human. Law’s eyes were half-lidded and unfocused as he huffed.

 

“Why’d you stop?”

 

Oh, _fuck it_.

 

The incubus crashed his lips down on Law again, hands on either side of his human’s head as he gripped the pillow for dear life. Tattooed hands continued to tug as if to pull him closer. Onto the bed. _On top of Law_.

 

Hell, Luffy couldn’t say no to that even if he tried.

 

Carefully but excitedly, Luffy clambered onto the bed without breaking the kiss. He was mindful of Law’s left hand where the IV was as he tried to find a more comfortable position. Law’s free hand travelled traced Luffy’s spine and settled on his waist, pushing him lower this time and what? What? What did he wa—

 

“Oh…!” Luffy was so stunned with the sudden contact of his clothed erection against Law’s that he pulled away from the kiss for one breath. Law gasped, his hips pushing up slightly, weak fingers still tugging on the waistband of Luffy’s clothes and god _damn it_.

 

“You need to move.” Law whispered a bit hurriedly, a bit desperately. Who was Luffy not to comply?

 

The demon ground his hips downward and forward, rubbing their groins together deliciously as he clamped his mouth over Law’s once more. The beautiful human just _lay there_ , accepting all of this without putting up any walls around his mind. The man’s consciousness was a swirl of emotions—a bit of fear, some worry, and a pinch of… submission? Law had never been this willing before. Luffy was getting so excited, his dick might start talking.

 

The demon wanted to be all over Law, wanted to be inside him. Hot. Hard. Deep. Fast.

 

No.

 

 _No_.

 

Law was sick. Sex should be out of the question.

 

Luffy grunted as he broke the kiss but didn’t have enough strength in him to stop his hips from moving. Law’s breaths were so labored, Luffy wasn’t sure if he was inhaling and exhaling at the same time as they ground against each other. The demon planted his face on the pillow right next to Law’s head but that did little to douse the heat that was taking over his body. He wanted so much to press their bodies closer, to trail kisses from Law’s jaw and down to his chest, but, no. Not now. His human was sick and… And that was why he was submissive? His mind was weak? Law was not himself?

 

And Luffy… What was Luffy doing taking advantage of this…?

 

“L-Luffy.” Law mumbled as his body tensed up. “Nnh. Keep… Keep going.”

 

No.

 

This wasn’t Law. The walls of his mind were all down and he was just _there_ , willing and open, letting Luffy do what he wanted and fuck. Fuck. _Fuck_ . That could’ve been the most inviting thing ever but he couldn’t. He _mustn’t_ . Law was sick and in a disheveled state of mind. Luffy should stop. He should. Right now. Right the fuck _now_.

 

The demon gasped loudly, groaning and biting against the pillow as his hips started to buck erratically out of control and no, no, no. Stop. Luffy had to stop. He _had to_.

 

“Ssshhh.” Law’s free hand stroked Luffy from the back of his head, down his spine, and then slid back to his hips. Luffy _purred_.

 

“That’s it.” Law whispered, urging him to keep moving. “You need this, don’t you?”

 

Oh. So that was it. Law was doing this because he knew Luffy _needed_ this.

 

The idea that his human was sacrificing something again snapped the demon out of it. Luffy immediately sat up and covered his mouth. The sudden loss of contact startled the human that his first reaction was to weakly grab after Luffy.

 

“No..!” Luffy said loudly as he disappeared in a blur, reappearing at the foot of the bed where he took more cautious steps back. He had to put more distance between them before he caught more of Law’s scent to send him over the edge again.

 

Law lifted his head from the bed, eyebrows furrowed, more confused than angry.

 

“Wh-why…?”

 

“You’re not… I don’t want to...”

 

“Don’t want to...?”

 

It was thrown out like a question but it didn’t _feel_ like a question. Luffy ignored that thought.

 

“Shouldn’t! Mustn’t!” The demon insisted, his eyes falling to the floor in a determined effort to calm his screaming desires down. “Y-y-you’re sick and… You’re… I…”

 

Luffy shook his head vigorously, eyes tightly shut as he tried to will away the sights and sounds of Law panting.

 

“I don’t want to do this. I mean, I _want_ to, but you’re…. You’re sick and… And...”

 

“And you can’t.”

 

There was some tone of finality that _hurt_ in Law’s words as his head fell back on the bed. Luffy opened his eyes slowly.

 

“It’s fine.” Law swallowed hard, jaw tight, fingers gripping the sheets as he stared straight up at the ceiling. “I understand.”

 

It took a few seconds of silence and awkward gaping on Luffy’s part before Luffy nodded and padded back to the watcher’s bed. Somehow, he felt like Law didn’t understand but he didn’t press. He hoped it would pass. Hopefully, that was the last of that.

 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

 

The morning that followed several hours later was awkward. Law had barely even _looked_ at Luffy and the demon didn’t seem to have it in him to initiate a conversation. Even when the breakfast tray came in, Luffy just sat on the far end of the watcher’s bed, knees pulled up to his chest as his watched his human eat wordlessly. If silence was a weapon then this room was dangerous. It hurt Luffy to realize that this was probably the first time that they were neither interacting nor physically close to each other despite being in the same room. And he couldn’t really blame the man. Who the fuck was the demon that was irresponsible enough to grind hard against his sick beloved human, anyway? Argh. How could he?

 

Luffy had barely gotten any sleep with all the tension. His mind hadn’t shut up about the events at Punk Hazard, how his memory of it was hazy, and how he had almost taken his human without proper consent. That last bit made Luffy want to bang his head on the concrete multiple times. There was a nagging urge to run to his human and apologize but he was scared that just catching a small trace of his scent might make him forget himself again. And that was not good.

 

Physically, Law was still shaky but improving His bruises and even the hickeys were gone and nothing was broken anymore. His mana was also starting to replenish. Mentally, Law wasn’t quite there yet but on the plus side, the walls of his mind were starting to rebuild. Luffy took that as a good sign of his recovery. And it had to stay that way. Everything needed to go right for this man starting now. Luffy had fucked up by letting him get nabbed by wolves and then again by trying to _dry hump_ him. He wasn’t going to fuck up again.

 

As promised, Mingo came back with his brother—Oh, right, it was Cora-san—and several people. Baby Five was there, too, along with a green-haired woman named Monet and a weird, long-haired, pale-skinned doctor named Caesar who had a disturbing affinity for the color purple. Vergo was there, too, standing next to them like a robust, rigid _pole_ . And Luffy… Luffy was given a Cora-san’s old phone, spoken to for a while, and then left sitting in one corner like a quiet request for him to stay out of this. It was odd and a bit _sad_. He wasn’t sure.

 

With a sigh, Luffy stared at the phone in his hand as he sat on the couch. The gadget was so large, that somehow, it wasn’t difficult to understand that it once belonged to Cora-san. Luffy recalled how tiny it seemed to be in Cora-san’s large hand. But now that Luffy was holding it, the phone required him two hands to hold properly. A big phone for a man with big hands. It made sense.

 

The demon’s fingers ran across its smooth surface, blinking at his own reflection. It looked and felt like glass, as if it was going to shatter into a million pieces if dropped. He couldn’t afford that. This phone was important, according to Cora-san, because he could use it during emergencies. He could also take pictures, play games and… well, do other things that Baby Five would teach him more about later.

 

Across the hospital room was Law’s bed surrounded by Law’s family. Luffy looked up to see his human frowning at the pale family doctor and swatting his hand away. The demon bit his lip. His human was agitated. They’d been fussing over him for a good while now, after all. Cora-san was the most panicked (“How did you manage to get yourself mugged and dragged to Punk Hazard!?”) and Baby Five had briefly burst into tears (“I was so scared the muggers had paralyzed you!”).

 

But Law didn’t seem to be interested. He was so out of it that he fell asleep whenever they shut up even shortly only to be woken up startled by some noise or whatever. Luffy wanted to sit by his side but… He really didn’t want to get in the way. Besides, he wasn’t sure of what they were talking about. Words like police report, composite sketch, vitals, witness testimony…

 

Luffy sighed again, glancing up and caught Law looking at him just a millisecond before the man was distracted by something Monet was saying.

 

How long must he endure this?

 

Luffy bit his lip, not getting a read on his human’s thoughts. He hated how this was sometimes a hit and miss thing even when he desperately wanted to know what was going on in Law’s head. There was a strong desire to press his nose against Law’s neck and breathe in deeply to apologize.

 

Luffy shook his head. Instead of moping around, he should do something and be of use. Seeing as they had visitors, Luffy should help entertain them. Right. He should… He should get drinks! Wasn’t there a refrigerator thing outside with food and beverage?

 

The demon hopped off the stool, glancing at Law again and seeing him occupied. Without a word, Luffy made his way out of the room and into the hallway lined with doors. Oh. Oh. Which way was it to the refrigerator again? Luffy bit his lip in silent contemplation and decided to go with his gut and ran left. He came across a nurse who told him to please not run, which he complied with much reluctance until he got to the flight of stairs that compelled him to _at least_ jog his way down. He made another turn somewhere and then another and still another turn, trying to sense where most of the humans gathered until he finally, _finally_ came to the vending machine.

 

Luffy furrowed his eyebrows.

 

Where was the door handle on this thing?

 

A random human came by, put money into the slot, pressed some buttons and lo and behold! Food and drink _fell out_ . Luffy wanted to punch the machine. Money. Even the god damned inanimate objects asked for _money._ Everything in human society was run by this stupid currency and Luffy wouldn’t have paid it any mind had it not been hindering important activities in his life thus far.

 

What felt to be a slight breeze and a glimpse of pink from the corner of his eye made Luffy turn to his right. And there he was. Law’s _other_ uncle.

 

“Gotten anything yet?”

 

Luffy shook his head absently, his body automatically turning into cautious mode. Since  when had Mingo been standing there? Wasn’t he in Law’s room with everyone else? When did he follow Luffy out? Something about this man wasn’t right.

 

“It’s on me, then.” Doflamingo reached into his suit for his wallet. “Which ones did you want?”

 

“I…” Luffy was taken aback by that question because he hadn’t decided yet. The demon turned to the vending machine, suddenly overwhelmed with the number of choices and just blurted an answer without thinking.

 

“All of it.”

 

“ _All_ of it?” The tall blonde man laughed and Luffy could make out a raised eyebrow from behind those heavily tinted pointed glasses.

 

“I… I mean…” Luffy wiped a hand heavily across his face. “I mean, anything that isn’t bread. Law doesn’t like bread. He hates it. _Loathes_ it. Loathes loafs. Yeah. Ah, but he’s been having nothing but nectar and whatever edible things he tosses together. And that isn’t healthy, is it? That’s—”

 

“Yes, indeed.” Doflamingo interjected, sounding bored amidst the sound of beeps and churning machine parts. Luffy was confused for a while until the man bent down and pulled out two juice bottles from the take out port. The demon stepped back cautiously, wondering why a closer look at that pink coat made his thoughts fly back to Punk Hazard.

 

“Law is a very picky boy. Even pickier when he’s sick.” The blonde man handed the cold bottles to Luffy. “It’s going to be a pain feeding him anything other than a scheduled meal. Just keep him hydrated.”

 

Oh. Luffy felt dumb not knowing that. There felt a need to say anything that proved he knew _something_.

 

“H-he hates lunch.” The demon mumbled as he took the bottles.

 

“Tell me something I don’t know.” The tall man sighed and nodded for them to head back. “You’d think a medical student would be smarter with his food choices.”

 

“He _is_ smart. He’s just... Picky.”

 

Doflamingo laughed at that but Luffy chose to say nothing. He did permit himself a small pout, though. He’d only been with Law’s uncle for a few minutes and he already revealed this uncanny ability to make Luffy feel _dumb_.

 

“Are you tired already?” The question came out of nowhere and had Luffy looking up at Doflamingo, wide eyes blinking as they started to ascend a flight of steps.

 

“Tired?”

 

“Of my nephew.”

 

Luffy’s curious face warped into a frown.

 

“No. I won’t get tired of him.” The demon glared at Law’s uncle. “ _Ever_.”

 

That seemed to be amusing to the tall man who only laughed in a disturbing way that Luffy only heard from him.

 

“What’s so funny?”

 

There was no effort on the demon’s part to hide that he was annoyed. Whether Doflamingo missed or ignored it wasn’t obvious with how he just waved his hand to dismiss Luffy’s question.

 

“That’s what _all_ his previous lovers said.”

 

“I’m not _them_.” Luffy’s eyebrows furrowed so tight, they could’ve merged into a unibrow. “I’m not going to get tired of Law. On any level. In any situation.”

 

“Not the first to have said that either.” Doflamingo shrugged, half-chuckling, and Luffy again wondered _what the hell_ was so funny. Law’s uncle kept talking before the demon could ask.

 

“We all know you aren’t the first one to become so attracted to Law to the point of obsession just to eventually _leave him_.”

 

Oh, that _did it_ . That. Fucking. _Did it_.

 

Luffy ran up the stairs ahead of Doflamingo so he could block his way and have a damn conversation. But Law’s uncle just sighed, tilting his head in such an annoyed manner that Luffy could _feel_ him roll his eyes in irritation. And then, as if his exasperated body language wasn’t enough, Mingo— _this pink motherfucker_ —then tried to make his way around Luffy. Oh, _hell no_. If this man and his stilt legs thought he was getting past this point without hearing from Luffy, he was gravely mistaken.

 

“I’m not going _anywhere_.” Luffy slammed a hand on the of the railing, keeping Doflamingo from walking past. It was only for a second but Luffy spied the blonde man’s eyebrow twitch before he lifted his head. Good. Luffy had his attention now.

 

“I _love_ Law.”

 

Luffy thought he’d driven his point home but _still_ , Doflamingo found _something_ _amusing_ about it.

 

“Really now?” The feathered tower chuckled. “And does he love _you_?”

 

Luffy opened his mouth to say “I’m his _boyfriend_ .” but couldn’t probably because it was a bad answer. Moreover.. _Did_ Law love him? He’d been asking himself the same thing, to be honest. It was a yes-no question, which Luffy could answer with either “I don’t know” or “I really fucking wish”. Neither was ideal. It left a pang of pain when Luffy tried pondering about it on his own. He didn’t realize it hurt more when it was asked by another person.

 

“I thought so.” Doflamingo shrugged when Luffy couldn’t answer and just casually took both bottles from Luffy’s hand. “Now if you’ll _excuse me_ …”

 

And just like that, he walked past Luffy. Only then did the demon realize that his hand had fallen from the railing. It didn’t matter, though. At least not as much as Luffy coming to terms with the fact that he wasn’t sure if Law loved him or not. And even more alarming to him now was his new realization.

 

He _severely_ _wanted_ Law to love him back.

 

What was with his escalating desires? When they had sex and he fed, wasn’t that the fulfillment of everything Luffy wanted? He was aware he had fallen for Law but this _greed_ was just surprising even for him. When did he start to strongly yearn for Law to reciprocate?

 

When exactly did this start to _hurt_?

 

The drops from Luffy’s eyes were the answer.

 

Now. It was hurting _now_.

 

“Law.” Luffy mumbled to himself, covering his face and sobbing into his hands. “Law. Law. _Law_.”

 

He sank, sitting on the top step and the world around him faded from his ears as his heart pounded harder. His insides twisted and his head throbbed. The pain was unfamiliar. Normally, his instinct was to run to Law and hug him because that was immediate relief but now, he was hesitating. He was scared. He wanted to see Law and be next to him but at the same time… he didn’t.

 

“I love him.” The demon cried like he was realizing this for the first time. “I love him. I love him. _I really love him_.”

 

And his trembling hands moved to the side of his head, going up, gripping his hair as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.

 

“Why isn’t that enough anymore?”

 

* * *

 

 

Luffy wasn’t aware how long it took to collect himself and head back to Law’s room. He didn’t get to anything remotely close to a conclusion but at least he was able to make his feelings settle down enough for him to function even temporarily. His eyes still felt puffy but he was still hoping that no one would notice or at least no one would mention.

 

“—of yourself.”

 

Baby Five’s worried voice was the first thing Luffy heard when he stepped into the room but the first person he saw was Vergo, standing dutifully a few paces away from the couch where Law was sitting between Cora-san and Baby Five. No one else was in the room aside from them. The dark man only very slightly moved his head to look at Luffy but said nothing. Meanwhile, Law was frowning, obviously bored as he looked out the window.

 

“Fai has a point. At least try to—Oh.”

 

It was Cora-san who was the first to react to Luffy’s arrival, making Law turn his head. They locked eyes instantly but only for a second or two. Law tore his gaze away, eyes shooting back out the window. Luffy bit his lip, vision pasted on the floor.

  
A second of silence. Two. Three. Four.

 

“W-well...” Cora-san began, obviously trying to clear the air of awkwardness as he made faces at Baby Five who gasped.

 

“I… Um… Uhh…” She said rather nervously, eyes shifting between her cousin and his boyfriend. “I… I think we should take care of the check out…!”

 

“The ch… Oh! Yeah, the check out!” Cora-san nodded, standing up too excitedly to look natural, ushering both Baby Five and Vergo out of the room as he blathered more things that Luffy couldn’t pay attention to. Now that he had laid eyes on Law again, the questions that Luffy had been asking himself came gushing back like a flood of thoughts and emotions, drowning all his ability to properly gauge Law’s mood.

 

The clicking of the door was the last sound in the room before it was enveloped in silence. Luffy chewed on his lip, desperately trying to find a way to start a conversation but came up with none. It wasn’t until Law got up to stand near the window that Luffy noticed a small cotton bud taped on the top of Law’s left hand.

 

“Oh.” Luffy said absently as he blinked. “It’s gone.”

 

“Huh?” Law turned to him, a bit startled and confused before realizing what Luffy was talking about. “Oh, the IV? Yeah.”

 

“Did it hurt?” The demon started carefully towards Law, subconsciously praying that he wouldn’t move away or tell Luffy to stop.

 

“No.”

 

Luffy wanted to apologize for not being around when the IV was removed but the last time he was this close to Law was hours ago. To make matters worse, he’d been subjected to _more_ stress and confusion not so long ago (Thanks, Mingo). That only made Law smell even _more_ enticing that Luffy was leaning forward before he knew it, rubbing nose on the side of Law’s shoulder while taking a deep, comfortable inhale. Ah, yes. This scent. This man.

 

“I miss you.” Luffy said without thinking, eyes closed as the tip of his fingers slowly reached for Law’s.

 

“You’re no longer angry at me?”

 

“Angry at you?” Luffy opened his eyes and pulled his head away so he could look at his human. “For what?”

 

“For making you do something you didn’t want again.” Law turned to him slowly, his face changing into something that looked like disappointment and concern. His hand came up, running his thumb under Luffy’s eye.

 

“See? You’ve been crying.” The man frowned. “I’m really no good at this, am I?”

 

Luffy tilted his head for a while, trying to connect Law’s words. The human seemed to have misunderstood. Did he think Luffy was angry and crying because of what happened last night?

 

“No, you have it wrong!” Luffy shook his head, his fingers locking around Law’s hand before he could think about it. “You were sick and I just _couldn’t_ , you know?”

 

“So Incubi… Can’t…” Law looked at Luffy then at the window and then back at Luffy again. “...Do things with sick humans, I assume?”

 

 _Do things_? Like have sex?

 

“No, no, no! That’s not it at all!” Luffy shook his head vigorously this time as he pressed his forehead against Law’s shoulder. Holy shit, where did Law even draw these conclusions from?!

 

“Then why were you avoiding me?”

  
What? So this whole time, Law was acting this way because he thought _Luffy_ was pissed? Luffy was the last person on the planet who was going to even think about avoiding Law. Wasn’t that already obvious?

 

“I wasn’t avoiding you.” The demon’s voice sounded shaky for some reason.  “Actually, I thought you were...”

 

_...Angry at me. Hated me._

 

But that was just an assumption Luffy had made, wasn’t it? Law wasn’t angry at him. He wasn’t. He wasn’t angry. He really, really _wasn’t_ angry.

 

Sudden relief burst from Luffy’s heart and surged towards his throat, spreading down to his fingertips and the soles of his feet. Tears sprang from his eyes, blurring his vision and wetting his cheeks but he wasn’t sad anymore, though.

 

“You’re crying again.” Law ran a hand through his hair. “What did I do?”

 

Luffy could smell him, the fragrance of him, willing back all desire into his system. He wanted the man’s tongue in his mouth, to have his palms run across Luffy’s skin until it ignited a passion so intense that his vision would be reduced to nothing but white. Somehow, he could hear Law’s blood travelling throughout his body, could smell the mana that circulated his soul. It beckoned him like a beautiful, hypnotizing song.

  
“This is nothing!” Luffy shook his head and dove for Law’s chest to take in more of his scent but the man wanted to have a word.

 

“It’s not nothing. Look at me.” Law gently stopped Luffy by the shoulders but the demon. It was an innocent touch but it _burned_ and seared into Luffy’s very existence. Luffy bit his lip, squeezed his eyes shut, and bowed his head. The more he tried to will away the feelings of being drowned in the throes of passion, the more it tried to sway him to its fiery will.

 

“Luffy, look at me.” Law cupped his boyfriend’s cheeks. “Are you tired of my face now?”

 

“N-no. You know it’s not that.” Luffy squeaked as he felt Law’s fingers carefully wipe his tears away. “It’s just that if I look at you, I might… I might…”

 

It was only when Luffy slowly opened his eyes that he realized he was already tiptoeing, his head pushed up, mouth parted as if begging for a kiss. His body language was the total opposite of what he was saying but was reflective of what he really wanted. Luffy was a bad liar and Law was good at spotting lies.

 

Law slowly drew their faces closer, letting Luffy very, very gently suck on his lower lip. Sweet. Sweeter than last night. The demon moaned appreciatively, sighing in bliss as he brushed his tongue over Law’s lip. His human’s name escaped his lips desperately, leaning further up as one of Law’s hands gently made its way to the small of his back. Barely anything had happened but Luffy was already breathless and his heart was already in his ears.

 

“Your body.” Luffy managed to whisper. He wasn’t sure if he had said anything else. All he could recognize right now was his human, his warmth, his scent.

 

“It’s fine.” Law moved so that Luffy’s head rested on his shoulder and oh dear, the man’s neck was close. Too close, too tempting.

 

“Do you want to feed?”

 

His answer was yes.

 

“No.” Luffy spit out what he decided was the right thing to say as he willed himself to pull away from his beloved human. “You’re not healthy enough. It’s going to tire you out. I don’t want to drain you. I want you healthy and back on your feet again. I want you to be okay. As long as you’re okay… As long as you’re fine…”

  
At first he thought he really just had a lot to say but as the words tumbled out of his mouth in an attempt to make sense, Luffy’s body trembled. His fingers were cold and his joints were tight. Again, he was reminded of his tangled mess of feelings, that it wasn’t enough that Law was next to him anymore. He wanted Law to love him back. Back then, it was a simple matter for him to say he wanted Law’s affection but somewhere down the road, something changed and Luffy—dare he say—became more selfish than he already was.

 

“Luffy?”

 

His name entered one ear, lingered in his skull for a while, and then went back out the other ear. Questions rang in his head.

 

What right did he have to ask Law to love him back? What the hell had he done for his human so far?

 

_We all know you aren’t the first one to become so attracted to Law to the point of obsession just to eventually leave him._

 

Shut up, Mingo voice. Shut the fuck up.

 

“I’m sorry.” Luffy croaked, his fingers gripping the end of Law’s shirt. “For not being able to protect you even when I promised to take care of you. For being a weak-ass shit who had you injured because I left you alone to chase the _stupid_ fucking phone snatcher instead of—”

 

“You couldn’t have known.”

 

“I _should have_ .” Luffy pried Law’s hands off his face. “I _knew_ wolves hunt warlocks. Crocus was _eaten by one_ , for fuck’s sake! You were walking around with me, with all of _my name_ on your body. _Of course_ , you’d look like a warlock…!”

 

“Then let’s admit we both fucked up.” Law pulled Luffy to his chest and kissed the top of his head. “At least we both know better now.”

 

“No…!” Luffy stepped back before he could give in to Law’s gestures to tolerate his incompetence. “It was my fault! It wasn’t you! It was never you…! You did nothing wrong!”

 

The way Law’s face warped into a deep frown had Luffy wondering if he had said anything wrong.

 

“Why are you like this?!” Law growled and Luffy could hear his heart slowly pick up. “I _know_ I’m at fault, okay!?”

 

 _At fault_? What fault? Why was he suddenly angry?

  
“What are you talking about!?”

 

“Why don’t you just flat out tell me that I didn’t feed you enough?!”  
  
“What?!”

 

“It’s true, isn’t it!?” Law’s hands had formed tight fists, his jaw stiffening, as his eyes narrowed. “You didn’t have enough mana to fight the wolves! That’s why you were losing!”

 

And then he covered his face with both hands, running them both through this hair as he turned around, pacing in a circle as he huffed agitatedly.

 

“I almost got you killed!”

 

Luffy did not understand Law’s logic but the mention of him losing to the wolves just made him irate. Why’d that have to be brought up? What did that have to do with anything!?

 

“ _That’s_ what you’re worried about, Law!?”

 

Did this man realize how he was casting Luffy’s pride aside? It was _his_ job to protect his human and he had not lived up to that. Was Luffy’s feelings towards that something so _trivial_ to Law?

 

“I’m not stupid, Luffy!” Law whipped around so violently that the demon gasped in surprise. “I know I’m not enough! I _know_ I wasn’t a good battery _at all_!”

 

“Stop calling yourself that!”

 

“That’s what I am!” Law charged towards him and for a moment, Luffy thought he was going to grab the front of his shirt. “Or have you forgotten!? Have you forgotten what we are!?”

 

“Shut up!” Luffy took one step back. He hadn’t forgotten, no. But he didn’t want to remember either. At least not now when he was so confused about them. Why couldn’t Law see this?

 

“I _know_ I’m not enough!”

 

“Shut up! Shut up!” Luffy shook his head, gripping his hair, backing further away because Law was not making sense. No. Not one bit. “I don’t want you to be my battery at all!”

 

“Then what?!” Law was yelling uncharacteristically, making swings and gestures with his long arms as he paced around the room. “What is it that you want?! Tell me, Luffy! I want to know!”

 

“ _You!_ ” Luffy hollered, his voice booming in the room as his fangs bared aggressively and his eyes flashed red. “I want you! I only want you! I’ve only ever wanted _you_ ! Just _you_!”

 

He wasn’t sure when the tears started flowing again but Luffy only realized he had been crying so hard when he sniffed and hiccuped. But his feelings had not subsided and the throbbing in his head was trying to compete with the one in his chest.

 

“It’s always been you!” Luffy sounded desperate, turning to his human in some hope that he understood but Law just stood there, blinking at him with wide eyes and… And that wasn’t the expression Luffy was expecting.

 

“Why don’t you understand?!” Luffy screamed and stormed out of the room. “Stupid Law!”

 

The door swung and slammed after he left, startling almost everyone in the hallway but Luffy could not give a shit. Law was stupid. _Stupid_! But just before he could march away angrily and aimlessly,  a tall man in pink feathers and pointy shades caught his eye as he stood across the hall, eyeing Luffy from afar as if to say “See? I knew it.”

  


* * *

 

 

The ride home wasn’t as awkward as Luffy had feared but it wasn’t ideal either. First of all, Law was not sitting next to him. Luffy regretted being stubborn because the man had done nothing but _sleep_ as he slouched in his seat, leaning with one cheek on Cora-san’s shoulder. Luffy _ached_ at that sight. He wanted Law to lean on _him_ . Why was Law over there while Luffy was over here? It was a short distance in the van but _still_.

 

Secondly, Luffy had quickly realized that any attempt to give this man the cold shoulder only seemed to make _Luffy_ suffer. Not that he wanted to torture Law but he was expecting him to at least, um, _react_. How could he, though, if he was asleep majority of the time? This was backfiring on Luffy. It was confusing.

 

Thirdly, and even more bothersome than the fact that Luffy was bad at being sulky was his human’s current state. Law would wake up once-in-a-while, mumbling incoherent things before drifting back into sleep again and fucking _shit_ , what had happened?! Why did they let him leave the hospital if he could barely stay awake? Physically speaking, Law wasn’t supposed to be all that injured anymore but his mental state was another story altogether. It was webbed by so many confusing negative things that Luffy couldn’t even begin to touch the tip of the iceberg that was bringing down Law’s entire being.

 

“I’ll take him!” Luffy practically _lunged_ as soon as Vergo looked like he was about to pick Law up. The demon’s voice startled the human awake, fidgeting as soon as he realized that it was Luffy who was carrying him. He didn’t protest, though, which was wise. Luffy was going to god damn _fight_ Vergo if he so much as tried to take Law from his arms. This human was a stupid one, but he belonged to Luffy. No amount of arguing was going to change that.

 

“Can we stop being silly now?” Luffy whispered—it must be noted that he did so a bit lovingly—as he put Law down on his bed. The stubborn human only grimaced and drifted into sleep before he could get a proper _syllable_ out of his mouth. Luffy’s next course of action was to climb onto the bed and snuggle but Baby Five called out to him from downstairs so she could tell him about Law’s medicine schedule.

 

Oh. Okay. That was a responsibility Luffy would be happy to take care of.

 

Or not.

 

Despite the girl’s efforts to write down a detailed timetable, Luffy still found himself confused. It had been an hour already after Law’s family had left but Luffy was still in the kitchen, looking at the now wrinkled paper that Baby Five had left him. Written on it were names, times, numbers, and other notes. On the counter were Law’s medicine bottles that barely made sense to Luffy even as he tried to match the labels to the ones on the list. It wasn’t that Luffy couldn’t read them but the medicine’s names were all so complex.

 

Which was three times a day? Which one was before meals? Which was after?

 

Luffy’s closest experience to this was with Koala’s brews but even then, it was Sabo’s job to remember most of it. Did Zoro do the same thing? Could he remember all this for Sanji?

 

“Ma...Me... Maaaahhh… Argh, _fuck._ ” Luffy slammed the plastic bottle on the counter.

 

The human world was so much more complicated than Luffy had assumed—money, medicine, universities, hospitals, systems, _rules_ . To think he had the gall to say he was going to take care of Law. If only he could fight his way out of his confusion with Law’s medicine but he couldn’t. In this world that Law belonged to, strength wasn’t everything. Luffy had never felt so helpless about something so… _not physical._

 

Luffy could vaguely remember telling Law he’d do anything for him. How _conceited_ . He couldn’t even figure out _labeled medicine_.

 

“Luffy?” Law’s faint voice coming into the kitchen startled the demon enough to make him fidget and swipe some of the medicine bottles off the counter. The demon cursed, eyes flashing red for a second before proceeding to pick up the containers. Thankfully, none of them broke or spilled its contents but it was _still_ frustrating.

 

“What are you doing?” Law didn’t sound like he had moved from his spot. “Why are you crying?”

 

Crying?

 

Luffy swallowed hard, feeling his cheeks and what the fuck? Tears. Again.

 

“N-nothing.” The demon shook his head, wiping his tears with the back of his arm.

 

“It’s not nothing. You’re _crying_.”

 

Luffy wanted to fling his body onto his human for a nice tight hug because he was so damn _upset_. But what for? He’d done nothing but dwell on these little temporary comforts now look at him. He couldn’t even understand something as important as Law’s medicine.

 

“What is this?” Law eyed the plastic bottles on the counter. “What are you trying to do with this?”

 

“I can read them but I just can’t remember the details is all.”

 

Luffy stared at the wrinkled paper on the counter absently until Law took it and gave it a brief reading. He clicked his tongue and put it down, frowning.

 

“Why are you troubling yourself with this? You don’t need to worry about my medicine.”

 

The demon just pouted. Why was he making it sound like he shouldn’t have done this?

 

“Did Baby Five entrust you with this responsibility?”

 

Yes, but that wasn’t the point.

 

“I want to be able to do this for you.” Luffy reached out for a bottle and looked at its label in an attempt to make it appear he was doing _something_. “I want to take care of you.”

 

“Then come upstairs with me.” Law almost sounded like he was pleading but Luffy dismissed it as his imagination.

 

“I want to do this for you.” Luffy put down the bottle he was holding and randomly grabbed another. “I just need time to figure it out.”

 

“Clearly, it’s too much for you to handle if it’s making you cry.” Law took the bottle from his hands and put it back down on the counter to make a statement. Luffy could feel his blood climb up to his head. With a movement too quick for even Law to follow, the bottle was back in Luffy’s hand.

 

“ _So what_ if it’s making me cry?” There was a sound of denting plastic and if Luffy wasn’t careful, he just might crush the small thing in his hand. “Does that mean I’m too _stupid_ for this?”

 

“That’s not what I said.”

 

“Does it mean I should just _stop_ and give up?”  


“Stop putting words in my mouth.” Law glared sharply despite his poor health condition. “I just don’t think this is something you should worry over.”

 

“ _Enough!_ ” Luffy slammed his fist on the counter so hard that it _shook_. Law closed his mouth, cautiously darting his head back out of reflex. Luffy’s eyes flashed red.

 

“Why are you like this!? Do you think it’s easy watching everyone fuss over you while I sit in one spot and not understand anything!?”

 

“No one’s expecting you to be on top of everything, Luffy.”

 

Oh, _really_!?

 

“So is everyone expecting me to be _dumb_!? Is that it!?”

 

It took all of Luffy’s effort not to lose control and just violently shove the medicine bottles of the counter out of frustration. The demon turned around, eyes still angrily crimson and fangs very, very obvious as he gestured wildly to keep himself from destroying anything.

 

“I don’t _want_ to be clueless! I want to understand _everything_ about you!” Luffy couldn’t hear his own voice getting louder, couldn’t see Law slowly backing away, couldn’t feel how his mana was starting to lash all over the place, poisoning the air with his anger. “Why am I not allowed to worry for you!? Why is everyone else allowed to take care of you and not me!?”

 

“You _are_ allowed to take care of me!” Law’s voice cracked and he winced a bit but kept talking. “I’m telling you I need you to be upstairs with me!”

 

“I want to be something else than just a demon you have amazing sex with!” Luffy whirled towards Law, growling loudly as his fiery red eyes glared at the man. “I’m not your slut!”

 

It rang. Luffy had stopped talking but over and over again, it rang.

 

_I’m not your slut. I’m not your slut. I’m not your slut._

 

Then hush.

 

Luffy had never experienced silence fall so fast, so thick, so _wrong_ . Neither had he ever seen or imagined Law look so _stunned_ and _offended_. His human was barely breathing for a good second or two as he stood there, eyes were wide, mouth slightly open, shoulders stiff, and fingers trembling. Luffy’s entire gut wrenched and tied itself together in punishment. That last sentence should never have made it into his head let alone out of his mouth. He knew he had to say something but he was too stunned himself to say anything.

 

Law staggered, his face pale. The vibrant anger in Luffy’s eyes died down into deep pools of dark grey.

 

“Is… Is that how…” The man reached behind him for some support to keep him standing. “Is that how I make you feel…?”

 

When Luffy didn’t answer, heartbreak washed over Law’s face as one hand clutched against his chest that started to heave.

 

“I don’t… I… I’m sor...” Law shook his head slowly as he turned to go. “Fine.”

 

And Luffy… Luffy just stood there, still trying to figure out what to say buy his brain had stopped working ever since he saw the depressing hurt on Law’s face. But then he realized his human had gone out of the kitchen, now walking a good distance towards the stairs and _still_ , Luffy hasn’t said anything.

 

“Law…” Luffy found his voice when Law was barely visible from where Luffy was standing. The man didn’t even stop to look. The demon chased after him. Somehow his legs were slower, heavier, like they were rusting at the knees.

 

“Law, I—!”

 

“Don’t.” Law mumbled and Luffy did stop. It was difficult to block out the buzzing sounds of guilt in his head as Law’s heartbeat started to sound dangerous. Still, that one word was firm despite how he wheezed as he staggered up the stairs one step at a time.

 

“It’s fine.” Law said again, stepping up the fifth step. “I’ll... I’ll be upstairs...”

 

He lifted one foot but he never made it the next step.

 

And he fell.

 

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

 

“ _LAW_ …!”

 

It felt like it happened too fast and Luffy was so out of his mind that he didn’t even react in time to keep Law from hitting the ground. The human fell shoulder first, his head landing with one last thud on the floor, half his body still inclined up the last steps.

 

Luffy’s world _stopped_ with his heartbeat and for two good seconds, he stood there flabbergasted at Law’s body on the floor, back facing him and not even twitching.

 

“Aaaah! Oh no!” The demon finally screamed, finally being able to control his body enough to disappear into a blur and reappear next to Law. “No, no, no, no!”

 

Luffy tried to carefully pick up his beloved, beloved, _beloved_ —god, he couldn’t stress that enough—but he was trembling and panicked that he almost just flipped Law like a doll. He cradled the groaning man in his arms, brushing hair off his face as he peppered him with kisses.

 

“Are you okay, sunshine? Where are you hurt?”

 

Law shook his head quietly. Luffy didn’t even know what that meant. He was too distracted by how pale his lips were.

 

“I’m sorry, pumpkin. I’m sorry.” The demon breathed into Law’s hair and rubbed his nose against his cheeks but all this affection felt a little too futile, too late. “I fucked up again. I fuck up always. Why am I like this? I was just so stressed, munchkin, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry. _I’m sorry_. Please be okay. Fuck. Fuck, what do I do? What do I—”

  
Law’s response was to slightly tug at Luffy’s clothes and his slender, weak fingers made Luffy want to cry again. The man huffed and Luffy wasn’t sure but he thought Law said “up”.

 

“Up? Upstairs?” Luffy kissed his forehead. “Upstairs. Okay.”

 

It only took a second for Luffy to dash up the stairs and open the door to Law’s bedroom. The man groaned in his arms again, which made Luffy think that maybe he head moved too fast. His poor little human. His poor little Law.

 

Very carefully, despite his strong but shaky arms, Luffy slowly put Law down on the bed. For a few good moments they were silence until Law whimpered awake. Ah. He’d lost consciousness for a short while. Luffy almost didn’t realize.

 

The effort it took for Law to open his eyes was so much, Luffy wanted to cry. His beautiful human’s next words as soon as he saw Luffy was what made the demon bite his lip and _weep_.

 

“Not a slut.”

 

Luffy took a deep breath, trying to swallow something painful back into the pit of his stomach.

 

“I know, sunshine.” Luffy kissed Law’s fingers as lovingly as he could. “I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry.”

 

“Not my slut.” Law repeated breathlessly like he hadn’t heard what Luffy said. The corners of his eyes were wet. Luffy had made Law _cry_ , god damn it.

 

“I know.” The demon whispered, kissing Law on the forehead and wiping the tears before they rolled down his cheeks. “I understand, munchkin. I’m sorry. I’ll never say—”

 

“Love you.”

 

Luffy’s ears _rang_ _deaf_.

 

“W-what...?”

 

Law coughed.

 

“…N’ve… You…”

 

It was a bunch of gibberish but it sounded so similar to what Luffy wanted to hear that he felt like his chest was going to burst. Did he hear wrong?

 

“Y-y-you what?”

 

Weak tattooed fingers found the front of Luffy’s shirt, tugging it faintly but Luffy‘s brain was too scattered to understand that it was happening let alone what it meant. Law coughed again, wheezing, trying to pull at Luffy’s shirt and, oh. He wanted… He wanted to cuddle? Luffy wanted to cry right now but cuddles were good, too.

 

The demon carefully climbed onto the bed so as not to accidentally knee Law in the side or elbow him in the nose. The words “I love you” were still ringing in his ears, making his heart beat so hard, it just might squeeze itself up his throat. Did he mishear? Did Law _really_?

 

“I-I-is this better?” Luffy mumbled as he wrapped his arms around the warm body next to him. Law’s response was to lie on his side and nudge closer, rubbing his nose on Luffy’s collarbone. Was this a first? Yeah, it was a first that Law asked for this kind of embrace. In his arms, Law felt so small. And warm. And _frail._

 

“H-how are you, sunshine? Do you need anything?”

 

Law shook his head softly and sighed.

  
“Nothing. Just you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned out to be longer than I had planned. I spent a whole day working on this and got it down from 11k+ words to 10k+. I was contemplating on cutting it to the part where Luffy walks out of the room and sees Doffy buuuuuuuuuuuuuut… It’d make chapter 24 awkward. And speaking of chapter 24, the draft is almost there. 80% done with the draft but I’m trying not to blow it up to five-digit word counts, holy shit. I’m sorry if this wall of text is competing with the walls from Shingeki No Kyojin. 
> 
> **Please help me improve my writing (and this story) by leaving a comment on this chapter. 10K WORDS MOTHER OF GOD**


	24. Mind Scream

When Law was four years old, everything in his uncle’s mansion seemed to be much, much bigger than him—the rooms, the windows, the doors, the tables.  _ Everything _ . It often annoyed him because not only did it remind him of being really, really small but also made it such a pain to get from one place to another. Not that he’d get lost, of course. Law had the mansion memorized. That was how he could find his way around even when he trudged half-awake towards Cora-san’s room at noon.

 

“Cora-san…”

 

His sickly uncle’s room had the biggest mahogany double doors in the manor. It had spiral carvings of elves, stars, leaves, and flowers and two large brass handles that stood out against the dark wood. Law sighed as he eyed the door handles. They were too large for his tiny hands so he had to put Bepo down on the floor so he could use both his hands to pull on the knob with all his weight.

 

“Cora-saaaa—Ggggh.” 

 

The door opened quietly as Law pushed it open just enough so he could squeeze himself inside, dragging Bepo along.

 

“Law?” His sickly uncle was sitting on the bed, closing the book he had been reading and slipping it under his pillow.

 

“Want to nap...” Law leaned on the heavy door and pushed back with the heels of his feet to close it. The boy sighed, annoyed yet again that he was breathless from just that as he padded towards the giant bed. “I can’t nap in my room…”

 

“How are you feeling?” The tall blonde man caught the large stuffed animal that was lightly tossed towards him and moved to the left to make space for the child climbing up. The mattress was too soft that Law almost  _ sunk _ with every movement. Why did everything in this house feel like it was going to  _ eat _ him for the sin of being tiny?

 

“Have you had lunch at least?”

 

“No.” Law grabbed Bepo. With a yawn, he lay down on the bed and hugged the big plushie to himself. “I just want to sleep.”

 

“You’re feeling weak because you haven’t had lunch yet.” Cora-san’s large fingers brushed Law’s hair away from his forehead. His uncles were such strong people even if one of them was sickly. Law shouldn’t even attempt to talk shit about being frail, though, with how weak he was himself.

 

“Don’t like lunch.” Law mumbled, eyes closed. “Breakfast and dinner are fine. Lunch is just  _ bleargh _ .”

 

“Don’t be picky.” Cora-san pulled up the blanket to cover his small body.

 

“I’m no— _ maaaah _ —not picky.” Law yawned, inching closer towards his cozy uncle. “It’s just... really...  _ Eww. _ ”

 

Cora-san was still saying something, but the darkness of sleep had already claimed Law’s mind.

 

Until he was suddenly awake again and it was cold.  _ Very cold _ .

 

“Mo… Mother?”

 

That was him talking, but it didn’t sound like his voice at all. Was it because he was sobbing and scared? Was it because it was dark and cramped? Was it because of the rumbling sounds coming from the outside? 

 

The voice of a screaming woman was trying to pierce the wooden walls that surrounded him.

 

Who was that? He knew that voice.

 

Before Law could process anything, the top of the box he was caged in sprang open with a loud clack and angry voices flooded in without warning. The calm but sudden light scorched his eyes, allowing him only a glimpse of the sky was painted in hues of orange and deep purple dusk. Law cowered, holding up his arms, trying to shrink back into the corner of the wooden crate he had been stuffed into as he scampered away from the chanting that made his ears hurt so much.

 

“Witch! Witch! Witch!”

 

“Please let him  _ go _ ! He’s just a child!” 

 

It was a female voice he couldn’t recognize, but was oddly familiar nonetheless. It was distinct enough for Law to be able to pick it out from the sound of the angry shouts that were trying to attack him.

 

“M-mother…!?”

 

That was him again.

 

Mother? How? Law never knew his mother. She was—

 

The thick fingers that harshly grabbed him by the back of his collar severed whatever thoughts he had. Law felt himself being roughly dragged out of the wooden box, his dangling limbs hitting the edges hard enough for him to cry. He could see a mob, could smell fire, smoke, and ash from their torches, could hear a wailing woman and roaring people.

 

“Witch! Witch! Witch!”

 

Law was blindfolded before he could make sense of anything.

 

“Mothe—”

 

His mouth was gagged soon after. The roughness of the rope between his jaws was uncomfortable and terrifying as if trying to compete with the painfully tight binding around his wrists and ankles. Thick cord scraped harshly against the corners of his mouth that he tasted blood even in his gums.

 

“Please,  _ please, _ let him go!”

 

That was his mother.  _ Again _ . How? Why? He had no proper recollection of any of his parents, but this woman was, as far as his instincts told him,  _ definitely _ his mother.

 

He had to save her!

 

“Please don’t hurt him!”

 

But how?!

 

A mighty blow came knocking the wind out from behind him, making him cough with so much difficulty. His knees hit the rocky pavement followed immediately by his cheek, dislodging a tooth. There was a sharp pain just above his eye just before something warm and wet stained his skin.

 

“Noooo!  _ Please _ !” His mother shrieked. “My child is  _ innocent _ !”

 

_ Help…! _

 

“Please,  _ please _ , I’ll do anything!”

 

He could feel how his face was wet and grimy with tears, sweat, and ashes. Still, that was nothing compared to the cries of the woman he called “mother” and the crisp slapping echoing loudly amidst the hollers of the maddened crowd. 

 

“Witch! Witch! Witch!”

 

_ Please help! _

 

“I’m  _ begging _ y—!”

 

Another crisp slap.

 

“Silence! You wretched devil woman!”

 

She cried loudly. Law started crying louder, too, but the chants just drowned him out.

 

“Witch! Witch! Witch!”

 

_ Someone, help! _

 

Was there no one? Really no one?

 

Against the ropes between his teeth, Law tore a blood-curdling scream that never escaped the confines of his mind. Smoke gushed into his lungs like angry fists forcing its way down his throat, making him choke. He could feel warm tears running down his ashy cheeks. He’d done a lot of that already. A lot of unwanted crying. But all of that was tucked back to the corners of his mind when all the noise died out in an instant.

 

There was silence and then a flash of yellow eyes. It came from god-knows-where, claws quickly slashing against his skin, filling the air with the smell of blood and suddenly, Law found himself in the forest of Punk Hazard.

 

“Trafalgar.” There whispered a voice that had become too familiar in such a short time. 

 

“Trafalgar.” There was a wet tongue running from Law’s jaw, up towards his ear, licking his tears along the way.

 

“Luffy.” If names were prayers, this was Law’s devoted chant. “Luffy.”

 

There was a popping sound followed by a searing pain running through his shoulder and then fire. Fire. Fire.  _ So much fire _ .

 

Luffy.

 

And then the wolves howled into the deep night as a blood red moon watched without a hint of compassion. 

 

Luffy. Luffy. Luffy.

 

“Luffy!”

 

Law woke up yelling with all that he had and yet the name came out only as a short gasp. His twitching fingers instinctively tried to grab his demon for comfort, for security, for  _ something _ .

 

And he wasn’t disappointed.

 

“Law...!” Luffy was right there to grab his human’s hand. The man kept gasping his name as Luffy kissed his weak tattooed fingers, knuckles immediately white from holding onto the demon dear life. 

 

_ Help. _ Law wanted to say but he was out of voice and air.  _ Help me. _

 

“I’m here. I’m right here.” Luffy pulled him closer, rocking him quietly, stroking his back to help calm him down. “It’s only a dream.”

 

“The wolves.” Law muttered shakily, confused and half-asleep. “It burns.”

 

“It was only a dream. We’re home. You’re safe here with me.” Luffy wiped the beads of sweat from his beloved’s brow. “You need water.”

 

Law squirmed, trying to will himself properly awake as he nodded weakly. That’s right. It was all a dream. The little demon kissed him on the forehead before turning to the side table and emptying the last of the water from a pitcher into a tall glass. Law sighed heavily as Luffy helped him sit up.

 

“I’m going to the kitchen to refill the pitcher.” Luffy whispered, watching Law take small gulps from the glass. His long fingers were trembling and his eyes had some form of lingering fear that was too painfully visible to Luffy even in the darkness of the room.

 

“Luffy.” Law called, still not sounding like himself as he slowly drew the glass away from his lips. “Are you tired?”

 

“No.”

 

“Will you come back up quickly?” Law mumbled, still looking dazed. “The room feels too big, too empty.”

 

“Yeah. I’ll be back soon.” Luffy nodded and left.

 

This had probably been the hundredth time—Luffy had lost count—that Law had woken up screaming and trembling scared from a nightmare. He had been like this ever since Luffy had carried him back to his room after he had fallen from the stairs. God, what if he hit his head too hard? Luffy wanted to punch himself.

 

It was already evening. Law had done nothing but drift in and out of sleep the entire day. He fell asleep even mid-conversation, could barely stand up on his own, and had dizzy spells every so often, which probably contributed to him being very irritable and jumpy. The smallest disturbances woke him up at random and all forms of light made him nervous. Even the moonlight wasn’t welcome. Luffy was starting to wonder if Law was getting any rest at all. 

 

He’d never felt his human’s consciousness this shattered. Getting into Law’s mind was like being on a broken ship trying to survive the angry waves of the ocean in the middle of a storm. The lightning was blinding. The thunder was deafening. The darkness loomed over the furious, starless sky and lurked between the sharp rocks leading to the endless depths of the sea. And Luffy  _ saw _ these feelings as visions, which was a first in this relationship. Law’s thoughts always came to him as  _ thoughts _ , not images. 

 

Luffy was starting to be at a loss on what to do. It didn’t help that all the stress was making his incubus instincts tingle either. Oh, how he yearned for a kiss, to taste Law’s mouth, to feel Law’s hands all over his body, to have Law push his face into the pillows while taking him passionately from behind. Sex was Luffy’s natural way of dealing with tension, after all, but it had to take a backseat until Law was better. Law was the priority now.  _ Always _ .

 

The refrigerator light reoriented Luffy to the task at hand. After refilling the pitcher, he wondered if he should offer Law something to eat. The last time his human had attempted to take a bite was more than an hour or two ago but it only took minutes before he started throwing up. Law didn’t want to consume anything else afterwards. That was unhealthy but Luffy had no idea how to force him to eat. 

 

For someone who said he would take care of his human, he knew shit about feeding him. Again, he wondered how Zoro did it. Was there ever a time when Sanji couldn’t cook for himself? 

 

Ah, no, no, no. This wasn’t the time to be pondering on incompetence. Law was waiting for him upstairs. The last time Luffy went downstairs and took a while, Law had tried to follow. And that was  _ dangerous _ . Luffy didn’t really want him  _ anywhere _ near the stairs until he was well. Why that incident was—

 

_ “Love you.” _

 

“Oh my goooooooooooooood.” Luffy’s entire skeleton didn’t feel like it could hold every time he recalled what Law said and how he said it. And how Luffy was being an inconsiderate fuckwit prior to that. But focus, he told himself.  _ Focus _ .

 

Seeing that the door to Law’s room was open made Luffy’s heart stop for a second until he saw the storage room’s door ajar. From where Luffy was standing, he could see his human sitting on the floor in the second room, trying to open a familiar plastic box.

 

What was he doing this late? He should be resting. Luffy scratched his head as he put the pitcher on the side table in the bedroom before hurrying to the other room.

 

“Hey.” Luffy whispered from the doorway. “You okay, sunshine?”

 

“Look.” Law mumbled almost inaudibly, not even turning to glance at his little boyfriend. Luffy approached, gently wrapping his arms around Law’s shoulders from behind, earning a small contented sound from his human.

 

“Whatcha lookin’ at, munchkin?” Luffy whispered, trying to sound curious as Law carefully touched the surface of the picture frame he was holding.

 

“Honestly, I can’t see shit.” Law sighed with a faint trace of laughter in his voice. “It’s too dark but I didn’t want to switch the lights on.”

 

Luffy smiled, pressing a kiss on Law’s temple. He wasn’t sure what to say but he was glad that Law didn’t sound disoriented anymore.

 

“Can your eyes see in this darkness?” Law asked softly. “It’s a picture of my mom and Cora-san.”

 

“Yeah, I see it.” Luffy sat properly on the floor, pulling Law back so he could lean on the demon’s chest. The height difference forced Law to slouch so Luffy could peek over his shoulder. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as it looked, though. In fact, it was quite cozy to have Law sitting between his legs like this.

 

“I’ve been having strange dreams.” Law said again, carefully touching the surface of the picture frame. Luffy slid his arms around Law’s waist and locked his fingers together. Did he say family? Last time they tried to talk about this, the human got agitated. Luffy decided to be on his toes.

 

“I keep on having flashbacks of my childhood.” Law continued. “Strangely, I’m also dreaming of  _ my mother _ . And that’s…” Law turned slightly as if trying to look at Luffy. “I’ve never met her.”

 

Luffy felt like he should say something but nothing except a small, curious sound came out of his lips. But it didn’t seem like Law was expecting a response anyway, as he just kept talking, his voice sounding so weak and soft.

 

“I was told she died giving birth to me. Right in this very room.”

 

Oh. This was such a lonely room that Luffy had trespassed into, then. It made him feel somewhat guilty.

 

“I guess every child misses their parent.” Luffy whispered.

 

“I guess.” Law shrugged. Or at least that’s what the small, shaky movement of his shoulders was supposed to be. “Growing up, it felt like I had two dads. Then one quit.”

 

“Quit?”

 

“Kind of. Wait, let me… Show you...” 

 

Law attempted to get up and the uncomfortable sounds he was making made it obvious that he was exerting more effort into it than it would normally require. So Luffy offered to get whatever it is for him. Slight panic seized his heart when he realized Law wanted  _ that particular photo book _ .

 

“You’re not going to see anything without any light, sunshine.” Luffy said softly and Law only made a small complaining noise. Like a child. The demon found himself chuckling before he knew it, nuzzling Law’s hair—”You’re so adorable, sunshine.” ”I’m not. Stop making fun of me.”—and offering how he could make a small light with his mana if Law would permit him. The human contemplated with a yawn—”Ahhmmmmhhh”. So cute.—before nodding at Luffy.

 

The mana light was almost like a white firefly with a glow that’s just a bit brighter than candlelight. It hovered next to Law who marveled with an “Oh, wow” before immediately rolling his eyes away with a slight smile as soon as he noticed that the light was in the shape of a heart. Luffy giggled, wanting to whisper “I love you” but swallowed the words right back in. Some other time, maybe. When it was much cooler and more romantic.

 

“So after my mom died, my two uncles took care of me.” Law narrated as he placed the open photo book on his own outstretched legs. “You’ve already met Cora-san.” 

 

Law pointed to a photo with Cora-san who was standing next to a tall blonde man with pointy shades. In front of them was a very young Law and a younger Baby Five. Half of Luffy’s inner self was trying to pay attention and make it look like he was seeing this for the first time. The other half of his brain was going back to the events in Punk Hazard. For some reason, his brain kept replaying that creepy smile from the formless string creature.

 

“Cora-san was very close to my mother. They were almost like siblings. He took care of me when she died and he’s been like a father to me ever since I could remember.”

 

“Where’s your real dad?” Luffy had asked before he knew it and  _ oops _ . The demon gasped, stiffening, expecting Law to be pissed or offended as his tattooed fingers tightened on the edges of the photo album. 

 

“Y-you don’t have to answer that.” Was the demon’s only follow up.

 

“They said he died.” Law said instead after swallowing audibly. “They said he died of heart failure before I was born. That he went to sleep and never woke up.”

 

Luffy bit his lip. The man took a deep breath as if he was bracing for some heavy physical labor.

 

“I think that’s a lie.” Law sounded both angry and hurt despite the weakness in his voice. “He never married my mother. His name isn’t even on my birth certificate. Did you know that I’m not even using his surname?”

 

Oh, dear. What was Luffy to say to that?

 

“I think he left us. I think he didn’t want me and left us.” It was like the human couldn’t stop the words from coming out even if he wanted to. “And if that’s true, I hope he’s dead now. He’d better be dead now. Or I… I don’t know...” Law shook his head. “I might fucking kill him myself.”

 

And it was only then that Luffy realized that this was  _ really _ happening. Law was opening up about  _ family _ , that topic that made him hit a wall and lash out angrily when Luffy tried to make him share anything about it. Even now, the man’s heart was screeching in so much pain about it and yet he was  _ opening up to him _ . To Luffy. By choice. 

 

“Sunshine…” The demon tightened his arms around Law, kissing him on the cheek and rubbing his nose against the man’s ear. The way his heart hammered angrily hurt Luffy’s ears. Law’s body quivered despite its weakness, his breath becoming more labored with every pound of resentment. Luffy never felt such confused, lonely anger from Law before. Still, Luffy dared not interrupt.

 

“My mother’s family renounced her.” Law continued. “No one ever confirmed it to me but I know they did. With how they treated me. Even when Cora-san tried for me—for us—To bridge—”

 

When Law started coughing, Luffy knew he had to say something and what came out was the first thing off the top of his head.

 

“Was there ever a time Cora-san could make coffee when he tried?”

 

One second of silence turned to two seconds. Luffy was ready to admit he fucked up the mood again.

 

“I don’t know.” Law laughed. It was a soft laugh but Luffy didn’t mind. It was much better than his cries and whimpers or the angry pounding in his chest.

 

“Ah, Luffy, you...” The man sighed, his heartbeat slowing back to normal, breathing slowing down from the ragged, furious gasping from moments ago. Luffy smiled but said nothing.

 

”So this is Cora-san’s older brother, my other uncle. The one you met at the hospital.” Law finally pointed to the pink-wearing man before once again falling into a few good seconds of silence. 

 

Mingo. 

 

_ We all know you aren’t the first one to become so attracted to Law to the point of obsession just to eventually leave him. _

 

Shut up.

 

“He used to be my hero.” Law finally said. Was that pride in his voice? And did he just say  _ hero _ ?

 

“Eh?!” Luffy stared harder at the photo. “He didn’t seem to be that cool and you didn’t seem fond of him either.”

 

“Because he  _ used to be _ my hero.” Law said again, fingers reaching back and pressing Luffy’s nose so, so lightly. 

 

“We used to spend a lot of time together.” Law continued thoughtfully and fondly. “When I wasn’t sick, we’d stack blocks, dominoes, and dice to build the largest city we could. Sometimes we’d do stuff like which one of us can build the tallest tower. Of course, I’d never win.” 

  
Law chuckled softly.

 

“Sometimes we’d play jenga or pick-up sticks. Not that I won any of that either.” 

 

His last syllable was a laugh. Luffy was never going to get tired of hearing that.

 

“On days when I wasn’t so healthy, I’d fall asleep in random places. He’d carry me to bed. He’d read me stories until I fell back asleep.”

 

The human paused and Luffy could imagine him smiling softly. He’d never really heard of Law talk with this much fondness about  _ anyone _ . It was heartbreaking as it was intriguing to realize that he and Mingo weren’t as close anymore.

 

“He was so awesome, then. All I wanted to be was  _ him _ .”

 

“What…” Luffy hesitated but continued nonetheless. “What happened?”

 

Another pause.

 

“I… don’t know, really. One day, he just…” Law just tilted his head and shrugged, shedding the warm veil of fondness from earlier. “Grew cold to me. And then mean. I don’t even know what I did for him not to want me anymore.” 

 

Law turned the page, carefully tapping a finger on each photo that had his uncles in it.

 

“The more I got sick, the more distant and annoyed he became. He told me it was annoying how much attention I required just because something was wrong with me again.”

 

Law’s soft laughter in that last sentence sounded both sarcastic and painful. Luffy thought back to his words. Something about it rang oddly.

 

“So I just told myself, nah, my hero died. Just like my dad.” The man sighed, absently touching Luffy’s fingers locked around his waist. “Besides, who’d want a sickly kid? Do you know how difficult I am when I’m sick?”

 

_ You’re not difficult. _ But Luffy said nothing.

 

“My head never shuts up when I’m sick.” Law shook his head almost in regret. “It’s very loud and chaotic. It never stops.”

 

Tattooed hands turned the thick page of the album and Luffy’s heart stopped when he came to the children’s group photos, the ones where Law’s face was blacked out. A change in demeanor was what Luffy expected. After all, those photos were  _ disturbing. _ That’s not what happened, however. There was not a slightest hint of change in Law’s heartbeat. Not even when he traced a finger over the photos, connecting his blacked out faces like some form of sad constellation.

 

“Everyone got tired of me being sickly. Of there being something  _ wrong _ with me.” Law spoke like he was now recounting this on his own instead of telling it to Luffy. “Everyone. Everytime. Without fail.”

 

Luffy wasn’t a hundred percent informed when it came to general human standards but he wasn’t letting that fucked up measure of society make his human feel any lesser than anyone else.

 

“Nothing’s wrong with you, sunshine.” Luffy closed the photo album. “Don’t mind those people.”

 

“Those people?”

 

“The people who drew black circles on your face in these pictures.” Luffy held Law’s hands to keep him from getting the photo album again. He’s had enough of that. “They don’t matter.  _ They don’t _ . They shouldn’t have done that to you.”

 

“The person who blacked out my face doesn’t matter?”

 

“Yes. That person doesn’t—”

 

“ _ I _ drew those.”

 

He...  _ What _ ?

 

Luffy literally gasped and held his breath, marking another moment of awkward silence. It didn’t sound right. Law drew angry black markings on his pictures  _ of his own face _ ? Why!? 

 

Without a word, Law gingerly removed Luffy’s fingers from his hands and reached for the photo album that had fallen from his legs to the floor.

 

“I did this out of hurt when I was younger.” The sad beautiful human opened the album back to that dreaded page with group photos of children with smiling faces except for one. “They kept on saying they didn’t want me to be there because I was sick and smelled so bitter. I didn’t know what that meant, still don’t know what it means, but…” 

 

Smelled bitter? Where did Luffy hear that phrase?

 

The demon bit his lip to keep himself from saying anything out of respect and affection to Law who was being brave enough to talk about this. Even when he stopped to take a deep breath, Luffy held back. It must be difficult for his human to be remembering all these sad things. Rushing through it wasn’t the way to conclude this.

 

“I tried for Cora-san because he wanted me to have friends but they were bullying Baby Five over me so…“

 

He stopped.

 

“I might have hurt them physically sometimes but what about...”

 

Again, another pause. 

 

“They’re not… I wasn’t…”

 

Law clearly couldn’t find words. He paused again for a long, long while. Luffy was willing to give him as much time as he needed.

 

“I mean… Why would I insist myself on people who didn’t want me?”

 

Perhaps Luffy was over thinking but there  _ had _ to be  _ something _ with how Law had mentioned about “not being wanted” so many times in this conversation.

 

Maybe it wasn’t _ just _ because of that horrid experience in Punk Hazard that was making Law’s mind swirl like a tornado. Perhaps Law had deep-rooted issues of being left alone when he was sick, needy, or awkward. Somewhere in his mind, possibly subconsciously, Law was afraid that the people he was close to would eventually become tired of him being a burden, being sick, being different.

 

Was that why he wanted to become a doctor?

 

“It’s actually very basic, when you think about it.” Law sighed, feigning a hint of laughter. “People are inclined to leave heavy things behind.”

 

The small light hovering next to them flickered.

 

Luffy could only watch as Law got up and staggered back to the bedroom. Just before the demon could get up and follow suit, a vision swept over his mind. In a space with nothing but darkness, he was standing in front of a younger version of Law, probably in his teens, sitting in front of a desk with only a table light on. Law’s shoulders shook as his trembling hand moved haphazardly over—Luffy leaned down for a closer look—over photos.

 

_ Sktch-sktch-sktch-sktch! _

 

Law was drawing angry lines over his own face on the group photos. 

 

_ Sktch-sktch-sktch-sktch! _

 

There was a small sob.

 

_ “He’s going to lie. Then he’s going to leave.”  _

 

Huh? Whose voice was that? Was that Law?

 

_ “Everyone lies. At some point, everyone leaves.” _

 

The photograph’s glossy surface caught one teardrop and then another and then yet another like a sad prelude to rain. The droplet bled into the paper, the ink blotting out slowly like an ominous smear across the photo as the sound of angry scribbling lingered in the background.

 

“Law.” Luffy saw his breath mist as he mumbled, only then being aware that it had grown cold. The semblance of his human looked up. It wasn’t what Luffy was expecting. 

 

The boy had no face.

 

Or, more accurately, Law’s face was nothing but scribbled ink, scrawled anger on his skin, under his bangs, moving, twitching, spinning like some sort of hypnotic pattern that Luffy’s brain couldn’t comprehend. The boy behind the table reached out to him. The demon gave a startled gasp, flinching a step backward and away from the boy. 

 

_ “We all know you aren’t the first one to become so attracted to Law to the point of obsession just to eventually leave him.” _

 

Shut up, Mingo. Shut the fuck up.

 

In one blink, gone were the scrawled lines of hatred and pain across Law’s face. In place of his facial features was a word with thick giant letters.

 

_ HELP _ .

 

Written with  _ ash _ .

 

“What I’m trying to say is…”

 

It was Law’s voice that woke him up. The way Luffy’s consciousness was dragged back into reality was so forceful, sudden, and heavy that the demon had to draw a sharp inhale to help him breathe. Luffy found himself still slouched against the wall of the storage room. Law was still between his legs leaning against his chest. The demon caught a glimpse of the last flicker of the small heart-shaped mana light before it died out. 

 

He was back. Was this real? 

 

“...This is… common occurrence.”

 

What was common occurrence? Luffy was struggling from the overwhelming vision he just had. What had Law been saying prior to this?

 

“I know it’s like we’ve been through so much already but in reality, we’ve only been together for more or less a week.” Law continued, closing the photo album and setting it aside. He sighed and Luffy was properly awakened from how the vibrations from Law’s body travelled across his skin. 

 

Yes, this Law was the real one.

 

“No matter how you look at it, a week is a short time.” 

 

“It is?” Luffy wasn’t sure why Law was suddenly talking about how long they’ve been together. 

 

“It is.” Law nodded. “So no one’s going to be surprised if you get—”

 

— _ Tired of me _ .

 

Those were the last three words. They never got out of Law’s mouth because Luffy wasn’t going to let Law say it out loud.

 

“You said you loved me.” Luffy spat out immediately and felt his human tense against him. “I heard you.”

 

“Yeah, well—”

 

“Was that a mistake?” The demon interrupted, only noticing now that his own hands had fallen to his sides. He thought he was holding onto Law. “Did you only say that to make me feel better? Or were you delirious? Were you not yourself? Did you not mean it?”

 

It was one thing that his human might have been only half-conscious when he said he loved Luffy. But him thinking that leaving was on Luffy’s mind  _ at all _ was another issue all by itself. Leaving was the last thing Luffy wanted to do.

 

After a second or two of silence, the man sighed heavily.

 

“It’s been a week, Luffy. It doesn’t make sense.”

 

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

 

What didn’t make sense was Law’s train of thought. It was impossible that he didn’t understand how Luffy wanted to  _ stay _ . Wasn’t Punk Hazard enough proof that he would literally and figuratively  _ die _ for Law if need be? Wasn’t that love? Did it mean nothing that Law himself almost destroyed his own body with that mana tether for the sake of Luffy  _ winning _ ? Did that not mean they fought together? 

 

Something was wrong. Law wasn’t telling him what it was. And that was starting to become aggravating.

 

“Listen to me, Luffy.” Perhaps it was better that Luffy couldn’t see what expression his human was wearing as he spoke right now. “This level of infatuation isn’t worth you having to deal with things ranging from me being a horrible sick person to life-threatening supernatural  _ werewolves _ .”

 

That struck a nerve. Hard. Because really? Again?  _ Again _ with the wolves. Could Law just stop  _ reminding _ him the he got thrashed by werewolves?! Why was Law making it sound like he didn’t have to fight the god damned mutts?

 

“Is this because of what happened earlier? Because of what I said?” Luffy ground the words out, his voice sounding a bit foreign probably thanks to his brain flashing images of Law falling down the stairs. “Have I displeased you so much that you want to throw me away?”

 

“ _ I’m not throwing you away…! _ ” Law said loudly, coughing as he pushed himself violently off Luffy so he could turn and face him. “That’s not what’s happening here!”

 

“Then what is?”

 

“I…” Law opened his mouth then closed it again like he wasn’t sure how to put his feelings into words. Luffy could feel his mind going in all directions akin to the scribbles over his face on the pictures. 

 

“You were crying over  _ medication _ , Luffy. Just being with me is stressing you out.” 

 

That wasn’t what Luffy called an answer.

 

“So I’m a slow reader and was impatient. Is that a crime?”

 

“All I ever do is make you insecure!”

 

“That’s not true!”

 

“Oh,  _ bullshit, _ I  _ know _ it is!” Law got up, his feet thudding against the floor. He wobbled, one hand heavily landing on the doorknob for support as he kept talking between harsh breaths. “I can  _ feel _ you being insecure! I  _ know  _ you are! So you can just stop lying to my face!” 

 

Okay,  _ what!? _ Why was he angry so suddenly?!

 

“I’m not lying to your face! I’m not insecure, I’m just—Where  _ the hell _ do you think you’re going!?” Luffy was the next to get up violently as soon as Law stormed back to the bedroom. “Hey, I’m  _ talking to you _ !”

 

“Talk to me when you can be honest about how you really feel!” Law yelled without even looking, taking a deep breath, and furiously kicking the door that would have banged shut had Luffy not been able to stop it hard with his hand. The wood dented. Luffy couldn’t be bothered to care.

 

“Hey!” The demon swung the door wide open, his voice clashing with the sound of the knob hitting the wall as he marched after his boyfriend. Law walked around the bed, running his hands through his hair. There was little to no moonlight spilling between the blinds but Law’s shadow could be seen wildly moving across the walls and floors of the dimly lit room.

 

“Shut up!”

 

If Law was a demon, he’d have bared his fangs at Luffy right now.

 

“What is  _ wrong _ with you!?” Luffy stomped his foot. Law grit his teeth, picked up a pillow and threw it heavily with a dull bounce on the floor. It was contrasting to how his face was warped in such frustration. The demon grunted because somehow, what Law did just made him  _ angrier _ . He didn’t know why. It just  _ did _ . 

 

“Shut the fuck up, Luffy, or I swear to  _ god _ —!”

 

“Why are  _ you _ the one being angry!?” Luffy yelled. “How are you like this?!”

 

Behind him, the door moved slowly and even that seemed to be infuriating. So Luffy turned around and kicked it closed. 

 

“One second you’re all mushy and clingy and then the next second you snap so furiously like this!” Luffy followed with his eyes as Law paced restlessly around the room. “I don’t understand!”

 

“No one is asking you to!”

 

“Well, I _have_ _to_ understand! I promised to take care of you!”

 

Because he sincerely did want to take care of Law. Even now. 

 

“Well, no one is fucking forcing your demon ass to still live up to the god-damned impulsive promises you threw at me either because  _ I know you’re going to leave anyway _ !”

 

Law kicked the laundry basket over, scattering the clothes on the floor.

 

“Okay, look here, I am so fucking tired of you—”

 

— _ assuming things _ .

 

But Luffy never finished. Seeing how Law’s face changed into deep  _ hurt  _ for a split-second was enough for Luffy to stop, shut up, and reconsider. It was like Law expected Luffy’s sentence to end there.

 

_ I am so fucking tired of you. _

 

Oh. There it was.

 

So Luffy  _ wasn’t _ over thinking how Law kept on mentioning about being left alone by people who “didn’t want him anymore”. That was why he had been clinging onto Luffy the entire time he was unconscious or half-awake. That was why he had been insisting on Luffy being  _ next to him _ the entire time. That was why he had complained about the room being too large and too empty.

 

Luffy finally understood.

 

Beneath the layers of perfectionism and dominance, Trafalgar Law was  _ afraid _ . His life had been nothing but cycles of people leaving him, which he chalked up to him being some kind of sickly burden that everyone got too tired of carrying. And perhaps that was the secret behind the insane strength of his mind and willpower, his obsession to have a purpose, to keep working, to always be doing something, to always fight back until he was out of options. When Law’s mental fortitude crumbled, everything else followed, leaving him vulnerable. And  _ scared _ .

 

Yes, that was the word. Scared.

 

He was  _ scared _ , not of wolves, of demons, of pain, or of death, but of  _ loneliness _ . Trafalgar Law’s greatest fear was loneliness. 

 

Thanks to the bond—how could Luffy have forgotten it worked both ways—Law had probably picked up on Luffy’s thoughts about being inadequate, understood this as a reason for him to leave, which made the gears in his head turn and  _ panic _ . And now he’s lashing out like a threatened animal Luffy realized that this “anger” was his defense mechanism. 

 

It had to stop. He was going to end up hurting himself.

 

Law was now sitting at the edge of the bed. He was hunched forward with elbows on his knees and fingers tightly in his hair, grumbling incoherently to himself. His mind was once again going in the same directions as the scribbles Luffy saw on Law’s face in the vision. The demon bit his lip, deeply concerned with how his beloved was behaving. The human brain was a very complex thing. Next time, Luffy wasn’t going to let it escalate to this point. Right now, however, he had to pacify Law. How, though? The only solution Luffy ever had when shutting someone up was  _ punching _ . And that wasn’t an option right now, was it? Without any idea whatsoever what the hell should be done, Luffy just sighed heavily and sat on the floor.

 

And then it happened again. Another vision. Everything turned into black and white as the rest of the world stilled. The only one with color was Law.

 

And the child next to him. 

 

There was a younger version of Law who was sitting next to him on the bed, his short wiry legs dangling as he looked at Luffy’s direction. And once again, his face was nothing more but dark angry scribbles trying to arrange itself to spell  _ HELP _ and  _ failing. _ The boy extended his hand and Luffy’s heart broke as he saw how those frail and tiny fingers trembled for him to reach.

 

_ “Will you tell me?” _

 

Tell him? Tell him what?

 

It was only then that Luffy realized that he was holding something in his own hands. He looked down. Smiling up at him with big round eyes was a fluffy white polar bear wearing an orange jumpsuit.

 

_ “How do I stitch that kind of face for me?” _

 

Luffy’s heart bled. A smile? Law wanted a smile?  _ To smile _ ?

 

“Come here.” Luffy reached out. “Come to me.”

 

_ “No.”  _ The child took his hand back and hugged himself.  _ “I smell bitter.” _

 

“I don’t  _ care. _ ” Luffy shook his head heavily, extending his hand, wanting so much to grab the child but didn’t want to scare him away. “Come to me.”

 

_ “I’m bad for you.” _

 

“No, you’re not. Won’t you come over to me?”

 

_ “It’s bad to lie to people.” _

 

“I’m not lying!” Luffy leaned forward, not sure how he could look any more insistent as he was now. “What do I have to do to get you to trust me? Tell me what you want!”

 

The child paused. The scribbles on his face stopped moving.

 

_ “What… I want?” _

 

“Yes, Law. What do you want?”

 

Seconds passed. It felt like forever before the child spoke again.

 

_ “I want…” _

 

It ended there.

 

“Luffy…!?” The demon woke up to inked fingers trying to shake him by the shoulders. “Luffy, can you hear me…!?”

 

He blinked and came face-to-face with a very worried Trafalgar Law. The man’s eyes were glistening. Was this real now?

 

“You were mumbling and gasping.” Law exhaled, gripping Luffy tightly by the shoulders.

 

“I was?”

 

“Are you okay? Are you having difficulty breathing?” Law’s cold palms cupped Luffy’s cheeks. The demon blinked again, a bit disoriented, but with enough attention to be in awe that Law ditched being angry because he was concerned for Luffy’s general well-being.

 

“I’m okay.” Luffy managed to reply. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

 

“ _ I’m _ sorry.” Law said again, wiping Luffy’s cheeks with his palms, thumbs running under his wet eyes. “Fuck, I’m such an idiot.”

 

Oh. He had been crying? Luffy didn’t have it in him to wonder where his tears came from or how long he had been out of it because he had more important matters to ponder on. He didn’t know what was the right thing to say or do anymore. If there was anything he knew, it was that he wanted to help Law because… because...

 

“See? I’m bad for you. Bad for anyone. You should just—”

 

He should just be honest.

 

“I love you!” Luffy flung his arms around Law who stumbled back, leaning with his palms on the floor as he blinked in surprise. The demon squeezed him tightly. So warm. Nothing compared to this.

 

“You’re still saying that?” Law sounded tired of having to repeat himself and Luffy would have thought they were going into another shouting match if not for the hand that was lovingly stroking his hair. “I tried to slam a door in your face more or less twenty-four hours after you risked your neck saving my ungrateful ass.”

 

“I know.” Luffy nodded, pressing his nose against Law’s cheek and inhaling. “But before that, you bought me clothes, took me to Friday Food Fest, gave me a gift, took a picture with me. Kissed me. Held me. Fought with me. Made me feel  _ alive _ .”

 

He pressed a kiss on Law’s cheek.

 

“This past week had been more meaningful than all the years I’ve lived.”

 

Those words did something right. Luffy could feel Law relax against him. It was a small change, but one Luffy was willing to take.

 

“How long have you been alive?” The man asked lowly as if he’d just run out of things to say.

 

“A long time.” Luffy sighed, pulling away so he can carefully adjust himself to sit between Law’s legs. “Probably longer than you have, I’m not sure. I don’t keep track but… But…” The demon blinked and looked into Law’s eyes. “I have  _ never _ come across anyone who has made me feel remotely similar to how I feel for you.”

 

“You idiot.” Law looked away. “This isn’t going to be the last time I’m going to break down like this. I’m a difficult person to be with. Even  _ I _ wouldn’t want to be with me.”

 

“Good thing I’m not you.” 

 

The human made a face.

 

“Law…” Luffy interrupted before his beloved could counter with an argument. “Maybe I’m not the first one to say this to you but… I promise to stay with you.  _ Always _ .” 

 

How was he to make Law understand that he was serious and sincere?

 

“I promise never to leave you.  _ I promise _ .”

 

Sincerity seemed to be too much for his human. Law started to turn his head away but Luffy caught his face between his palms, the heat of Law’s cheeks a welcome feeling against Luffy’s fingers. The man blinked and then wet his lips.

 

“Luffy.” Law closed his eyes.

 

“I’ll be here.” Luffy whispered, his voice low but steady. “I’ll be here when you wake up. I’ll be here when you can’t sleep. I’ll be here when you have bad dreams. I’ll be here when you break a window, punch a wall, or flip a table. I’ll be here when you’re angry or happy or sad or hungry or horny or lonely or sick or healthy. I’ll be here. With you. Today. Tomorrow. The next day and after that and years and on and on and on.  _ Forever. _ I’ll be  _ right here _ , Law. And  _ I’ll love you. _ ”

 

“Luffy.” Law tried to move back, closing his eyes tighter, biting his lip, shaking his head, and trying to get up but Luffy wouldn’t let him. 

 

“So break if you have to.” Luffy whispered, pulling their faces closer, their foreheads touching, their lips barely brushing against each other’s. “I’ll be right here to help put you back together again even if you shatter.” 

 

Law swallowed hard. His throat was dry.

 

“Because I love you.”

 

The human exhaled like he didn’t know what was going on anymore.

 

“Do you understand me, Law?” Luffy whispered, thumbs tracing the dark circles under Law’s still shut eyes. “There’s no way I’m leaving of my own accord. So I’m not going anywhere unless  _ you  _ want me to go.”

 

“I…” Law shook his head, wetting his lips again, trying to speak but choking half a sob out and swallowing the rest of it back down instead. "It's not about what I..."

 

" _ Yes _ , it's about what you want right now." Luffy insisted and god, how he wanted to peck a kiss on Law’s lips to punctuate that because he meant it. He didn’t know how else to tell Law to value himself a bit more because he was worth so, so much. 

 

“ _ I _ want to stay and love you.” Luffy’s voice was still firm, breath ghosting over Law’s lips. “What about you? What do  _ you _ want?"

 

It took a few good moments of Law taking deep breaths before he could slowly open his eyes. He was tired. Luffy could see it so clearly now.

 

Law opened his mouth but no words came out and Luffy nodded so slowly as silent encouragement before Law sealed his lips again. A curse tumbled out the side of his mouth, tattooed hands running through his hair then down his face to cover his expression, muffling his grunts. His fingers stayed there like a feeble attempt to hide.

 

The demon made a small noise as he kissed Law’s fingers. His lips were warm and soft like it was trying to show Law how his own hands were so cold.  Ah, Law could feel his eyes getting wet. Why was he tearing up? 

 

“It’s going to hurt me to the point of death but if you genuinely want me to fuck off, Law, I  _ will _ stay out of your way. But only if that’s what you  _ really _ want, sunshine.”

 

Luffy’s words were  _ soft _ , if that made any sense. Law could feel him moving closer, could feel his small hands slowly move around in an attempt to embrace. 

 

“And is it what you want?”   
  
Was it? Law was having an internal debate with himself.

 

They’ve been together for a week or so and every fiber in his being told him it was not logical to fall in love in such a short while. Why, then, was Luffy becoming synonymous to comfort? How did everything about him become engrained in Law’s mind? How did all reason in the world fall useless whenever he thought of Luffy’s smiling face? Why else would his hands would feel empty whenever he was stressed or agitated without Luffy next to him? 

 

It was frightening how he’d easily become used to—maybe even dependent on—the unique solace that Luffy had brought into his life. Perhaps it was because Luffy always came to his rescue no matter what the problem was—little worries or big bad wolves. Law was sure that his demon would find a way to get to him and make things better or die trying.

 

“What is it that you want, sunshine?” 

 

Luffy nosed at the man’s fingers as affectionately as he could, placing light kisses as he whispered his name in between. Eventually, Law let his lover move the fingers away from his eyes, pursing his trembling lips until he was biting so hard, it bled. The slightest smell of Law’s blood jarred Luffy’s senses enough for a feral growl of desire to escape his chest.

 

“Tell me, Law.”

 

With a low hum, Luffy gently licked the blood off Law’s lower lip and the man’s only reaction was to shudder and sob so lowly like he was trying desperately not to be heard. The incubus gently sucked on his human’s lower lip, tongue grazing across its softness as if to coax more words out of him. 

 

And it worked.

 

“You…” Law squirmed against Luffy’s mouth, tears rolling down his face. “I want  _ you _ .”

 

“Done.” The demon’s one-word affirmation was no different from an angel’s breath. And Law broke down crying, shaking, clutching onto whatever part of Luffy he could grab lest he might escape. 

 

“I’m scared.” Law choked, unsure whether or not he was pulling Luffy or pushing against him, but he could smell him, yes, like a drug. “I’m sorry.”

 

“I know.” Luffy whispered. “We’re okay. You’re okay.”

 

Inked fingers crawled around the back of Luffy’s neck and pulled him into a kiss deep enough for both of them to drown in emotion because Law  _ needed this _ . Law craved to have Luffy close to him like some assurance that he was here and not going anywhere. After all the stress and anxiety that haunted Law for hours on end, it felt like they’ve been apart for  _ days _ , just long enough for it to hurt. 

  
“Don’t leave me.” The human cried softly.

 

The words sounded bizarre now that Law was hearing himself say it. He’d practiced it in his head multiple times before. He’d imagined him saying it  _ years _ ago to his uncles, his family, his friends, but he never really got the words out. Now, his body was trembling with some kind of relief to finally be able to openly admit these things, these  _ feelings _ .

 

“Stay with me.” Law whispered between kisses, gasps almost sounding helpless. “Love me.”

 

“Done. Done.  _ All done _ .”

 

Law hummed into Luffy’s mouth, fingers tangling into his hair, another hand running from the back of his neck and down his spine, pulling him even closer and oh, oh, oh, Luffy tasted so, so sweet. 

 

The thick and hot swirl of emotion drowned Law’s mind as he felt his back hit the floor. Luffy leaned over him, legs on each side of his torso, hands on either side of his head as they kissed deeply. Law’s arms reached out and pulled him closer. This heat was the most comforting Law had ever known. It wasn’t so bad to have someone take the reins and lead for a change. Sure, it was new and Law was a bit scared but at least he wasn’t  _ terrified _ . Because it was Luffy. And he wasn’t going to do anything to actively and intentionally hurt Law.

 

They took their time exploring each other—mouth, teeth, tongue, hands, mind. There was no tugging. No struggle. It wasn’t like in the hospital where they were debating with their own minds while frantically throwing thoughts at each other and  _ missing horribly _ .  Amidst the sounds of moans and sighs; of Law softly begging for Luffy not to leave him and Luffy promising to stay, there was an air of sincerity that wrapped around them like silk. There was the smell of arousal and a tinge of sex that was waiting to happen but without the usual burning fury of lust and desire, without the desperate heat that was begging to be quenched by the wave of orgasm and that was quite—how should they put it— _ uncharacteristic _ ?

 

Perhaps.

 

“Mmhh.” Luffy found it very difficult to pull away from how soft Law was kissing him. 

 

“What is it?” Law whispered from beneath him and Luffy thought even his breath felt like kisses. “You don’t want?”

 

“I actually want you so much, I could die.” The demon was already breathing heavily when he leaned on his forearm. “If we do this now that you’re sick, I might hurt you.”

 

“But I’m fine and…”

 

“No. You’re not. Your mana is so low.” Luffy shook his head and closed his eyes because Law making offers in this situation with that face was too tempting. “I mean, your mana has been steadily recovering but it’s going at a slower rate than I thought it would. If we try to have sex and I’m not careful, and the universe knows I’ll fuck up, I will end up hurting you if not  _ killing _ you. And I don’t want that.” 

 

Law’s hand came up and brushed Luffy’s hair off his face gently only to have it fall again.

 

“Well, if we’re careful…”

 

“I can’t guarantee being careful, sunshine. I want you  _ that much. _ ” The demon sighed, opening his eyes so he could look at his human and show how sincere he was. “I’ve been holding back so much, it’s a miracle I haven’t flipped you onto all fours and pounded my dick into you until I’m the only thing you know of in this world and— _ oh my goooood _ . You’ll probably pass out and wake up to me still fucking you.”

 

“What if I said ‘Oh my god, I think I want that’?”

 

“I  _ know, _ ri—Wait,  _ no _ ! No, you don’t!” Luffy fell to lie on his side and Law adjusted to do the same so that they were facing each other. “ _ I’m _ the demon here so don’t tempt me.”

 

Law laughed. It was truly a beautiful sound.

 

“But…” The man’s fingers gently ran through Luffy’s hair this time as his other arm pulled the smaller body closer to his. “What about you and your needs?”

 

“I’m good.” Luffy smiled. He was thankful for something but he didn’t know what yet. Law’s smile was distracting. “You fed me so much mana from the tether almost to the point of draining yourself. Besides, I—”

 

DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DING-DONG! 

 

Luffy hated doorbells.

 

“What time is it?” Law hastily wiped his tears and pushed himself up on his elbows. “I haven’t checked my phone to see if anyone was calling or whatever.”

 

Oh, right. The number of people worried when Law didn’t reply to anyone’s calls or text was quite alarming.

 

“I’ll get the door.” The demon kissed Law’s nose before getting up. “Stay here and stay away from the stairs.”

 

“Come on. I fell  _ one time _ .”

 

Luffy could hear Law scoff even as the chimes continued to call for attention downstairs. The demon allowed himself a small smile upon realizing that Law’s usual logical demeanor was back. Thank goodness. That’s what mattered. They could make love later. Tomorrow. Whenever. Right now, Law’s well-being and them being together was what counted. Everything else could wait. 

 

They had time, after all.

 

DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DING—

 

Luffy swung the door open...

 

—DONG!

 

...And was greeted by his blonde brother this time in what looked like a black leather jacket with brass buttons.

 

Huh? What was he doing here? Was he with Ace?

 

“Hey.” Sabo smiled, tipping his black top hat with brass-studded goggles with little gears and thin clicking chains. What was going on? He had belts everywhere like his clothes could only be worn by being strapped onto his body with a  _ harness. _ His vest had studs. His gloves had gears. His belt had little chains hanging from the holes with brass eyelets. Luffy was just about to ask if Sabo was starting to turn into some industrial machine but his brother beat him to getting the first word out.

 

“It’s called steampunk fashion.” 

 

Where was the steam, though? Luffy paused his cuddle time for  _ this _ ?

 

“Anyway, may I come in?” 

 

Luffy gawked for two seconds before saying, “Sure.”

 

“My thanks!” Sabo was about to step in when Luffy tugged him by the elbow, nodding at the doormat. His older brother stared cluelessly for a while before going “ah!” and proceeded to kick his boots off. Instead of it flying off his foot, however, the shoes merely turned into mana dust and disappeared. Luffy would never understand why Sabo wasted any mana with his clothes.

 

“Where’s your human?” Sabo looked around the house for any sign of Luffy’s boyfriend. 

  
“Law’s resting upstairs.” The incubus finally stepped aside so his brother could enter. “What brings you here all of a sudden?” 

  
“Good news brings me here!” Sabo headed straight for the living room and sat on the coffee table at the middle. “Koala and her uncles gave the go signal to visit and I think they have a way to help you break the bond!”

 

“O-oh…” Luffy glanced at the stairs, hoping to god that Law was still upstairs and not hearing all of what Sabo said.

 

“Yyyyep!” The blonde demon flashed a wide smile. “So rejoice, little brother! You’re going to be free again!”

  
Luffy’s ears started to ring. He had totally forgotten about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized it’s been almost three months since my last update. I’m sorry! I had been writing this but I got distracted by life, responsibilities, Voltron, and Yu-Gi-Oh!: Dark Side Of Dimensions. There’s not much I have to say about this chapter because it’s already too long but I’d love to hear from you. Yes, I’m a sucker for comments/reviews. I think all authors are.


	25. Lovesick

Law started towards the bed as soon as Luffy started out the room and down the stairs. The bed sheet was coming off on one side and the blanket was hanging from the edge like a nauseated cloth snake. The man picked up the pillow he had thrown on the floor as he went, glancing at the fallen laundry basket on one side. Did he do all this? Realizing that he didn’t remember much of his outburst made it even more frustrating that he’d irrationally lashed out at Luffy.

 

The phone on the bedside table caught his eye. Law didn’t even remember putting it there but he was glad he found it now. The light from the screen made him wince a bit, jarring him enough to make him sit on the bed. His eyes had become too sensitive thanks to being cooped up for a few good hours. After a blink or two, Law managed to check the screen properly. There was a message or two in the SA group chat that he assumed could be read later. Cora-san had texted him to get well and so did Baby Five. Law mentally noted to reply to them later as he composed a message to someone else.

 

To: Bonney.

 

_ I did it again. _

 

Send.

 

It was a short message but Law trusted Bonney would know what it would be about. This wasn’t the first time he’d sent her those exact words after one of his sick-and-angry episodes. He’d been in even more disastrous relationships before—different partners, same vicious cycle. There would be a point of argument escalating into an explosive fight. Sometimes, the relationship would end there. Other times, the other party would try to hold on. Regardless of the outcome, Law’s guilty ass would later send some vague text to Bonney who would call to offer some comfort. She wasn’t tolerant about Law’s tendency to hurt other people but she was very kind about it at the same time. 

 

Law wasn’t going to lie. Part of him hoped his issues wouldn’t rear its ugly head at Luffy but he wasn’t stupid enough to actually cling onto this wish either. He even knew better than be surprised or pleased when Luffy said he was going to stay. That’s what everyone said at first. They probably thought that they were going to be the one to change him to eventually realize that, nope, they couldn’t stand it. He wasn’t worth the suffering. And they left.

 

But Luffy...

 

Luffy didn’t even ask him to change anything. He didn’t even force to make sense of his irrationally scared and angry human. Law was “broken”. Luffy acknowledged that. However, there was no blatant promise to  _ fix him _ . In fact, it was like Luffy  _ knew _ it was going to happen again. And when it did, they’d be going through it  _ together _ , not against one another. Law had to admit, that actually made him feel like  _ he, _ not his irrational, uncontrollable bitch fits, mattered.

 

The phone buzzed.

 

Bonney.

 

_ You okay hun? Want me to call? _

 

Law sighed with a smile.

 

_ No. We’re ok now.  _

 

Send.

 

_ He’s amazing, Bon. I love him.  _

 

Send. 

 

Law was staring at the last three words of his message when Bonney’s reply came in.

 

_ That’s great! I’m happy for you! :) _

 

Law smiled. Happy. Yes, he really was.

 

“That’s not what I meant!” Luffy’s rather frustrated voice from downstairs made Law forget that he was going to send a “Thank you” text to Bonney. What was that about? Who was he talking to? 

 

“We’re fine is what I meant.” Luffy could be heard trying to level his voice. “I want to stay with him. And he wants the same thing, too. He told me so.”

 

“I had this agreement with  _ him _ , not you.” Familiar male voice. Law couldn’t recognize yet.

 

“I’m his lover!”

 

“Yes, not his representative. If he wants to cancel, I want to hear it from him.”

 

“Oh my god, I already  _ told you _ ! He’s sick!”

 

“Does that mean he can’t talk?”

  
“That means he needs to rest!”

 

“Luffy?” Law descended the stairs carefully. The lights were still off. Demons didn’t need it. Law didn’t mind. Downstairs, Law could see Luffy’s form fidget, turning around swiftly with a tinge of panic in his body language. Standing in the middle of the living room was… Who was that? Law squinted. Sabo?

 

“L-Law…!” Luffy was suddenly beside him, holding him carefully by the elbow. “What did I say about the stairs?”

 

“It was  _ one time _ .” Law mumbled and looked at who he was assuming to be Luffy’s blonde brother. “Good evening.”

 

“Good evening.” Came the reply. Law confirmed the voice to be Sabo’s.

 

Consecutive heavy knocks on the backdoor made Law gasp in surprise, which flipped a switch for Luffy’s instinct to kick into overdrive. The incubus picked up his human in one movement and dashed down the stairs. Like most of Luffy’s lightning speed activities, it was nothing but a blur to Law. All he knew was that he quickly went from being picked up on the stairs to being dumped unceremoniously on the couch. 

 

“Luf…!” Law began to complain but couldn’t finish thanks to his swaying vision. Any more sudden movement and he was going to hurl. God damn, how could demons be so fast and not get motion sickness?

 

“Oh, I forgot about Ace.” Sabo sounded like he’d innocently left a bag of groceries somewhere unusual.

 

“I’ll get it.” Luffy quickly strode towards the back door where the thunderous knocking persisted. Law remained lying on the deformed couch where he tried to reorient himself. 

 

“Where the hell is Sabo!?” Ace yelled from outside. Law could practically hear the fire in his voice.

 

“Here!” Sabo answered from the living room.

 

“Drunken rabbits!” That was Luffy. Law felt his body stiffen. Did he just say  _ drunken _ rabbits? 

 

“Did you just fucking forget about me out here!?” Ace’s angry voice was still coming from the garden.

 

“Let me guess how many! I guess four!” Luffy’s voice was high-pitched and excited. Did he mean  _ four _ drunken rabbits? Law couldn’t hear Ace’s response.

 

“Sorry, Ace!” Sabo laughed contrary to his apology. The approaching thuds of running feet prompted Law to attempt to sit up. There wasn’t enough time for him to prepare for the uncomfortable shaking of the couch as Luffy clambered over it from the back and onto Law’s lap. Jesus, shit, if he hadn’t spent years of his youth being sick and getting a handle on nausea, he’d be throwing up buckets right about now.

 

“Law!” Luffy’s eyes shone excitedly as he looked up. Nausea be damned. How was anyone to be pissed at that? 

 

“Ace brought us drunken rabbits, sunshine! Come see!”

 

And Law was on his feet before he knew it. The lights were still off but Luffy managed to pull him along without crashing him into furniture. 

 

Law wasn’t really sure what exactly he was expecting to see when he got outside. Perhaps four slurring rabbits swaying side-to-side? Intoxicated rabbit-based demons that Law’s never heard of before (until now)? He was fairly sure, however, that he was  _ not _ expecting to see what seemed to be a big ceramic jar measuring up to Ace’s waist. It had linen cloth over it and tied with rope around the sides of the mouth. Was there a reason Ace was standing proudly next to it?

 

“Are the drunken rabbits  _ inside _ ?”

 

There was a bit of horror in Law’s voice that Luffy didn’t seem to have heard.

 

“Yes, munchkin! Look at it!”

 

Law’s brain wasn’t working quickly enough to come up with a decent excuse not to do that. He was at least sane enough not to say something like “and set the demonic critters  _ free _ ?” That would be rude. So he let Luffy take him by the hand to lead him from the back door and towards the ominous jar of bunny death. Sabo followed just a few paces away, Law noted, as he felt the cold grass against the soles of his own bare feet.

 

When they were close enough, the Ace’s tail burst into flames and whipped to one side so it could light the end of the rope. The linen caught fire in no time, revealing a  _ suspiciously _ thick wooden lid over the jar. Law’s hand squeezed Luffy’s fingers like some sort of warning about the possibility of rabid drunken rabbits leaping out.

 

Law was ready to jump back when Ace lifted the lid but the smell of alcohol threw him off. Luffy tugged him forward excitedly before he could ask anything. The sudden movement made him wobble and his vision swayed, prompting an apology from his demon who immediately steadied him with a hand on the small of his back. By the time Law’s vision had stabilized, he was already looking into the jar. 

 

Now Law was expecting rabbits, yes. The fact that they were skinned, possibly cured, and now currently submerged in an alcohol-smelling substance was a surprise. But that proved of little importance because what he  _ didn’t _ expect— _ couldn’t have _ expected—in any of his horror-filled scenarios was the size! Each of it was roughly the size of a  _ goat _ ! Thankfully, the rabbits were dead so Law did not have to worry about getting chomped right in the neck.

 

“Those are some fucking impressively big rabbits.”

 

Doctor Hiluluk would do  _ circus tricks _ to get his hands on something like this. And that wasn’t to say it was silly. In fact, Law really wouldn’t mind studying these himself.

 

“You’re very fuckin’ welcome.” Ace crossed his arms over his bare chest and nodded proudly. “I actually caught a giant boar for you yesterday but no one was home so Sabo and I ate it.”

 

“A giant boar?” Law looked at Ace and then Sabo. “Like how  _ giant _ ?”

 

“Giant boars are big!” Luffy chirped, making a gestural estimate with his arms. “The size of your car! Maybe bigger!”

 

Law spared Luffy a glance and then looked at Sabo as if to confirm. His steampunk get up seemed to be worth commenting on—why was he barefooted?—but not now. The talk of giant animals was far too interesting.

 

“Yeah. About the size of a car.” Sabo nodded, adjusting his thickly stitched collar. “Tusks about the length of my arm.”

 

“ _ How _ ?” Law turned for a closer look at the rabbits inside the jar. There were some leaves among other things floating in it. He also caught a whiff of pepper. “Did you…” The strong smell of the alcohol made him to dart his head back and cough a bit. “Did you… Mana something this or… Or  _ something _ …?”

 

After a short muttering of  “Mana something???”, Sabo laughed and said, “No. Animals sometimes tend to grow big like this in Punk Hazard.”

 

Punk Hazard. These things were from Punk almost-fucking-died-there Hazard—that mountain where Eustass Kid dragged them into. God damn it. What would Law have done if he came across a god forsaken giant boar during the ordeal? What  _ could _ he have done against tusks that could skewer a vehicle?

 

“What’s the fluid?” Law was very tempted to dip a finger in it. “Smells like alcohol.”

 

“It  _ is _ an alcoholic brew.” Sabo said as Ace walked around him, mumbling something about fire. “My human usually concocts it for her uncles. They  _ love it _ .”

 

“Yo.” Ace gestured at Sabo. “Bring ‘em over here.”

  
The jinn carried the ceramic jar—but why was he barefoot?—with ease towards the center of the garden. The liquid swished around audibly but didn’t spill.

 

“So they’re called drunken rabbits because they’re immersed in alcohol.” Law spoke to no one in particular as he rubbed his chin. That made sense. The question here, however, was why they had to be in alcohol and why Ace had to bring four of it over.

 

“Have you had drunken rabbit before?” Luffy asked.

 

“ _ Had _ ?” Law turned to his small boyfriend. “As in dissect?”

 

“Dis—What the hell is that, you cute silly dumb-dumb!?” Luffy laughed, hugging Law by the waist. “ _ Had _ as in  _ eat _ !” 

 

Eat. He said  _ eat. _ As in put into mouth, chew, swallow, digest kind of  _ eat _ . Law blinked and looked at the jar again. Eat  _ that _ ? So that wine was  _ marinade _ !?

 

“The wine itself goes well with the rabbits!” Ace said from the middle of the garden, making Law whip around just in time to see a large ball of fire burst out of thin air. Shadows stretched across the garden as the blaze twisted into a very interesting two-pronged bonfire. But that wasn’t what stunned Law. It was the fact that these demons were planning  _ dinner _ that involved marinated dead giant killer rabbits from Punk Hell-zard and washing it down with said marinade.

 

“What’s wrong, cheesecake?” Luffy nudged him gently. “You can’t eat this?”

  
“Can’t eat this?” Ace and Sabo chorused, looking back at the both of them.

 

“He’s sick.” Luffy pouted as he turned towards his brothers. “I’m not sure if it’s okay for him to eat drunken rabbits.”

 

Oh. Oh, that was a very good excuse. Or at least that’s what Law thought until he saw the crestfallen look on Ace’s face.

 

“Wha… What do you mean?” The fire demon’s shoulders dropped in dismay. “B-b-but…! But this is my apology token!”

 

“Apology token?” Law tilted his head.

 

“Yeah. For wrecking your house and trying to fry your throat among other vital organs.” Ace was now also pouting as he looked longingly at the large ceramic jar. “Would you prefer the giant boar? I tried hunting for one again today but all I could find were these large rabbits. I got one for each of us, too.”

  
“Which was stupid because  _ he _ ’ _ s  _ the recipient of the apology, not us.  _ We _ don’t need to eat this.  _ He _ does.” Sabo sighed, making gestures and seemingly not making a proper point. “But drunken rabbits taste  _ so good _ , I was curing ‘em before I knew it.”

  
“Yeah.” Ace nodded. “Drunken rabbits are  _ so _ good.”

 

“So good.” Luffy shook his head sadly but leaned up and whispered “Not as good as you, though” to Law’s ear.

 

Luffy’s comment aside, Law thought Ace’s gesture was… really nice, to be honest. He didn’t really think Luffy’s brothers—okay, maybe demons in general—would spare a thought about apologies let alone have tokens of sincerity. So did Ace hunt the rabbits and Sabo clean it? And Sabo’s human made the wine? They exerted all that effort for him? 

 

Fuck, now Law felt bad for not wanting to eat this.

 

But sanitary issues.

 

And food poisoning.

 

But the dejected look on these demon’s faces!

 

God damn it.

 

“It’s not that I can’t eat it. I probably can.” Law said, scratching his head as he mentally counted the many ways he was going to regret this. “It’s just that I haven’t seen rabbits this big before. I was wondering what I could have done if I came across a giant wolverine or something while I was running aimlessly at Punk Hazard yesterday.”

 

“Yesterday?” Ace frowned.

 

“At Punk Hazard?” Sabo turned to Law and then at Luffy who looked like he’d stopped breathing for a second. “Luffy, you brought your human to  _ Punk Hazard _ yesterday?”

 

“I…”

 

“Hold on. Sorry for not being clear on that.” Law was quick to interject. “Actually, the werewolves…”

 

“ _ Werewolves _ !?” Ace and Sabo chorused with wide eyes. The bonfire flared as if to mimic their alarm. Law closed his mouth immediately and turned to Luffy who was biting his lower lip. Okay. Something was wrong. Law may or may not have fucked up but his money was on the former.

 

“Luffy.” Ace walked right through the fire to approach his incubus brother. Parts of his body turned to flames and the tips of his hair turned to embers. The tattoo on his left arm glowed eerily. Law thought back to the words  _ I am fire _ . 

 

“We got out of there.” Luffy himself didn’t sound convinced. “I managed to beat them up.”

 

“Why was Law running aimlessly?” Ace was frowning seriously as his tail swished back and forth restlessly. “Are you saying you were playing tag in Punk Hazard?”

 

“No!”

 

“Were you trying to fuck him in Punk Hazard?” Sabo asked that with a serious straight face. Law wasn’t sure how to feel.

 

“I  _ wish _ .” Luffy groaned.

 

“Was  _ he _ trying to fuck  _ you _ in Punk Hazard?” Ace leaned forward.

 

“Werewolves snatched me and he had to get me back.” Law spoke up before the assumptions became any sillier. He’d have thought the whole conversation was a prank if he didn’t know that dealing with demons meant crazy could be easily confused with normal. But the atmosphere hadn’t turned any lighter. That alone was enough proof that despite how pointless and disjointed the conversation was to Law, none of the three demons thought of this as silly at all. It actually looked to be quite the opposite.

 

“Just where were you when Law got in trouble?” Sabo crossed his arms. Luffy only bit his lip and the raven-haired fire demon in the vicinity had to clear his throat to get an answer.

 

“I… I was right next to him.”

 

“Law got stolen from  _ right under your nose _ !?” Ace exclaimed in part disbelief and part disappointment. “Could you talk us through how you let that happen!?”

 

“Good god, Luffy…” Sabo ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head.

 

“I wouldn’t say he was right next to me.” Law told Ace but was looking at his small incubus. “He ran off to chase the—”

 

“Not talking to you.” Ace did not even spare the man a look but it was obvious how his mood had changed. He was totally different from the pouty-faced freckled demon who was feeling bad about Law not liking his apology token. Luffy didn’t appreciate this change in demeanor.

 

“Hey, you can’t talk to him like that! You’re in his territory!”

 

“Humor me.” Ace’s eyes turned fiery red, the ends of his hair turning into embers as eerie shadows cast on his face. “If I torch him right now, what’re you to do about it if you can’t even keep him from getting snatched by dogs?”

 

Ouch. Luffy didn’t even have a comeback for that.

 

“I’ll ask you again.” Ace spoke after a moment of silence. “How did you let that happen?”

 

So Luffy told them everything. He recounted how the wolves set up a plan to separate them, how Luffy fell for it, how he was desperately trying to find Law, how he was so relieved when he found his host, and how the situation turned from fleeing to fighting. There was tension in his shaky voice and a glimmer of fright in his eyes as if he was seeing everything happen again. 

 

Come to think of it, this was the first time Law learned that Luffy had to practically fly from his pursuers just to get to Punk Hazard. Law’s little demon expressed regret over his lost shoes, his torn clothes, but was glad he kept the phone for the photo they took. This idiot, Law thought. They could take a million photos if that was what he was worried about. But then Luffy got to the part where he stained the “gift” he had “just received” and for a moment Law was confused until his boyfriend reached into his pocket to partially pull out a small piece of cloth.

 

A handkerchief.

 

“It’s all torn and bloody.” Luffy stuffed it back in as if in shame. “The only thing I could protect was his phone.”

 

“You protected  _ me _ .” Law wanted to say more.

 

“He collared you, broke your bones, made you bleed.” Luffy’s jaw was tight. His eyes were focused on the ground. “You had to tether yourself half-dead just to give me mana.”

 

“But you won, didn’t you?”

 

Law realized too late that he should’ve said “we” instead of “you”.

 

“Did I?” Luffy spat out irritatedly. “I couldn’t even remember properly how everything ended.”

 

Law wanted to say something again but didn’t have words.

 

“ _ You _ saved us, Law. I was just a part of it.” Luffy bit his lip, eyebrows furrowing, jaw grinding. The air around him was thick and heavy. Law could practically  _ smell _ the magnitude of his anxiety with every second, every word. He wished he’d realized sooner how he wasn’t the only one suffering over the incident.

  
Ah, he was stupid. So stupid.

 

“Luffy was low on mana?” Ace was the first to speak up as he started to glare at Law. “You  _ still _ haven’t fed him properly?”

 

_ Still _ ? 

 

“What? No, I…” Law began.

 

“You _saw_ what happened the last time I was here, didn’t you?” The high demon growled, his tail lashing like a fiery whip behind him. “Never mind not getting a single hit in. He didn’t even manage to _look_ _like_ a threat. Or did you seriously _think_ that Luffy was _that weak_ to begin with? ‘Coz he’s _not_.”

 

Last time he was here? Wait, Luffy was losing badly to Ace that time? Regardless, no, Law never thought Luffy was weak. It was the opposite, in fact. But perhaps a more immediate concern was how Ace now had  _ fire horns _ on his head. As in real blazing  _ fire _ in the shape of large, curved horns on either side of his head. Law had never taken any course or subject remotely close to witchcraft or demonology but he had read enough mythology to know that such display meant  _ “not happy” _ .

 

The incubus stepped in between his human and his brother.

 

“Ace, stop it!” Luffy’s voice sounded faint to Law’s ears as Ace glowered, eyes burning. Law saw a glimpse of a fiery abyss. 

 

“My little brother’s losing to  _ dogs _ just because he hasn’t been fed…!”

 

The dark shadows on Ace’s face only made him more threatening. Law’s mouth opened and closed but not a sound came out.

 

“He’s been feeding Luffy. No doubt about that.” Sabo looked at their youngest brother. “I think Luffy hasn’t been getting enough mana.”

 

“No, that’s…!”

 

“Not getting enough?” It was Law’s turn to interrupt his demon this time. “What does he mean you’re not getting enough mana?”

 

“It  _ is _ enough! I’m not hungry!” 

 

“Then what are they saying?”   
  


“It’s just not what I’m used to.” Luffy gestured as he spoke while trying to shoot angry glances at his brothers in between. “It was my fault for using up so much and so recklessly while knowing my mana pool isn’t as abundant as it used to be.”

 

“Not as abundant? What the fuck does that mean?” Law raised an eyebrow, one hand on his waist as the gears in his head started turning.“You need more sources? I’m not giving you enough? We aren’t compatible? My blood isn’t—”

 

“No, no, no! It’s not that! Please don’t think that!”

 

Luffy flailed his arms so much like that could change the direction of Law’s thoughts. His shadow moved violently across the garden.

 

“Then  _ what _ !?” Law waved one hand over Luffy’s face when he noticed the incubus trying to discreetly glare at his brother again. “Why do you keep on hiding things from me!?”

 

“I’m not!” Luffy bit his lip. He wasn’t sure if he should touch Law or not. “Please don’t get angry. It’s bad for you. You’re sick...”

 

“I don’t  _ care _ !”

 

“Well,  _ I _ do!” Luffy was almost wringing his hands together. “Your mana is so low right now and I—”

 

“No, it isn’t.” Ace cut in coolly in contrast to the end of his tail that had burst again into flames. “Law’s mana levels are just fine. It’s lower than the last time we met but it’s not  _ so low _ .”

 

Law furrowed his eyebrows harder. What did that mean? Didn’t Luffy say his mana was low and he was so sick? Could he be lying? No. No, of course not. Luffy wouldn’t lie to him.

 

“Yes, it  _ is _ low! Why would I lie!?” Luffy stomped one foot hard. “He’s sick! His life essence isn’t as rich as it used to be! He gave me too much and his recovery feels very inconsistent!”

 

“No, Luffy. I’m with Ace on this. Law’s mana is fine.” Sabo’s eyes narrowed at his smaller brother. “ _ You’re _ the one that’s gauging wrong.”

 

“W-wait, what do you mean? Luffy’s sick?” It was out of instinct that Law’s hand immediately flew to Luffy’s forehead to check his temperature. Demons got sick? Law had somehow considered that before but he hadn’t really given it much thought.

 

“Luffy, why is your human so ignorant?” Ace grumbled as he heavily scratched his head. “Have you not spoken to him or is he not listening to you?”

 

“I’m fine! Our relationship is fine! Leave us alone!” Luffy complained, shoving Law’s hand off his forehead. That was unexpected but Law said nothing. He was much too bothered by this whole confusion fiesta to even be offended.

 

“Your senses are  _ off _ . And Law knows  _ nothing _ .” Sabo’s expression hadn’t changed. The way he stressed that last word made it sound more serious than Law was already worried for. 

 

“Maybe he’s lovesick.” Ace to Sabo.

 

“Possible. We should take him to—” Sabo didn’t even spare a second to think.

 

“I’m _ not _ !” Luffy sounded very offended. “I can take care of myself!”

 

“What does any of that even  _ mean _ ?!” The man tried asking, not even sure who he was talking to anymore. It didn’t matter as long as he got answers.

 

“It _ means _ …” Sabo told Law but hadn’t removed his dominant glare from his brother. “You both need to see my human.”

 

That wasn’t what he’d call an answer but someone had acknowledged his question. That was a start.

 

“Yeah, well, wasn’t that what we agreed on last time you were here?” Law was getting more annoyed at how things were making less sense and how he was starting to doubt what he currently knew. “Did you get permission for us to see your human?”

 

“Yes, I did. But Luffy said you didn’t need to anymore.”

 

Wow. It was just bombshell after bombshell,wasn’t it?

 

“You  _ what _ ?!” Law could feel the veins on his forehead pulsating as he turned to his boyfriend. “Why would you tell him that?!”

 

“Excuse me?” Luffy raised an eyebrow, quite surprised with how Law reacted and the man just couldn’t figure out where his demon was getting all this audacity. “You said you loved me. And that you didn’t want me to leave.” 

 

“I know what I said!”

 

“Then why would we need to go see her if we’re staying together?!”

 

Law ran a hand down his face, trying to gather all his patience because he didn’t want to argue in front of Luffy’s brothers.

 

“You can’t just… Urgh!” 

 

Luffy grunted back at him, mumbling something that Law couldn’t hear. Was his little boyfriend—who could be lying, by the way—was he picking a god damn fight right now? Law wanted to take his patience and hit something with. His head was throbbing. He didn’t want to dwell on these negative emotions too much. They’ve just been through one of his anger episodes literally just  _ minutes _ ago. It would be too soon for another one.

 

“ _ Well _ !?” Luffy asked in a condescending tone that made Law want to grab the nearest anything and throw it at anywhere. If he could grab air, he’d have smashed it to the ground.

 

“To figure shit out _ obviously!”  _ Law yelled anyway, his voice cracking.  _ “ _ I have questions  _ she  _ can answer and  _ you can’t _ !”

 

“Like  _ what _ !?”

 

“To start with, how about the details of this… this… this whole  _ contract _ thing, for fuck’s sake! There’s shit about your mana, my mana, gauging energies, and demon sickness among other clusterfucks! How did I snare you!? What if I accidentally snare something else!? What if we’re getting us killed and we don’t know it yet!? What if we’re disrupting something else without being aware of it!? What if we’re misinterpreting shit!? Did you even  _ think _ about any of that!?”

 

“But I don’t wanna break the bond!”

 

Luffy screamed back in a mix of worry and frustration. His eyes flashed red for a moment as the pressure around him swirled with a “whoom!”, enough to make the plants shake, for leaves to rustle and fall. The fire in the middle of the garden towered significantly higher like it was not letting anything dominate it. Strangely, it was seeing Luffy’s hair lightly brush over his eyes that calmed Law down enough for him to stop himself from saying a scathing comeback.

 

Law had to remember that Luffy was frustrated just like him. They were in this together. That was as much of a promise as it was a fact. He took a deep breath and sighed.

 

“Come here.” Law reached an arm out, beckoning his demon to him. The little incubus hesitated a moment but padded towards him anyway. As soon as he was within reach, Law pulled him into a gentle hug and breathed into his hair. Luffy made a soft noise. Small hands slowly crept around Law’s waist to return the embrace carefully.

 

Ahh, that’s better.

 

“Listen, I just have questions. We won’t break the bond unless we have to if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 

Law’s demon looked up.   
  
“Really?”

 

“Really.”

  
“You promise?”

 

“I promise.”

 

And that seemed to be the end of that angry train. Luffy’s features softened as he smiled and said, “Okay. We’ll go see her, then. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

  
“I’m sorry I yelled at you, too.” Law tried to give him a nose kiss but Luffy seemed to have taken that as a different kind of invitation because he leaned up and mashed their lips together, head immediately tilted, mouth open… and tongue. Tongue sliding in. Waaaait a minute, what was going on so suddenly?

 

“Mmmh.” Law tried to breathe, feeling Luffy’s hands run deliciously up and down his sides, brushing the material of Law’s shirt against his skin in such a way that made the man tingle. 

 

“Hey, we’re not done talking.” Ace kicked Luffy in the calf. The blow didn’t have that much weight on it to even hurt, but it was enough to make the incubus pull away with a hiss.

 

“What is your problem this time!?”

 

“I said we’re not done talking!” The horns on Ace’s head flared but Luffy just rolled his eyes away.

 

“We’ve decided to see Sabo’s human already! What more do you want!?”

 

“Oh.” All the flames on Ace’s body save for the one on his tail died down. “Okay, then.”

 

The instant change in demeanor was quite confusing.

 

“I guess that settles it.” Sabo sounded like he was stretching. “Back to drunken rabbits, then.”

 

“Sabo, you slice ‘em up with wind or something. Whatever. Just chop ‘em.” Ace was saying as he turned to his bonfire like something more could be done with it. 

 

“With pleasure. See? This is better. You should’ve believed me last time when I told you the rats were bad.” Sabo shook his head while shrugging. “The rats were  _ bad _ .”

 

“Can’t wait ‘til you’re better.” Luffy whispered, sucking Law’s lower lip one last time before skipping away happily. That was by far the weirdest “Get well soon” Law had ever received in his life.

 

So with all the screaming and tongue wrestling over with, Law finally had the mind to pay attention to what was happening. Sabo did slice the rabbit meat using small flying spinning wind sickles that he cleverly manipulated with his fingers. After which, he tossed the chunks of meat into the fire where they tumbled in the flames dancing to the rhythm of Ace’s tail. There were no skewers, ropes or anything to hold them up. Holy shit. It was like a demon-it-yourself oven except it was less scary and evil as it sounded. 

 

It wasn’t until someone mentioned having to eat using bare hands instead of utensils and banana leaves instead of plates, that Law’s mind practically started screaming “sanitation alert”. They would sit around the fire, spread banana leaves on the ground, and eat with their hands. The four of them were also going to use one cup to drink the wine. Someone would be designated to pour for them and pass it around.

 

Law could go “what?” or he could stop being flabbergasted and offer a compromise.

 

Banana leaves? Sure, but maybe at least  _ wash _ its surface? He asked. The demons had no problem with it. On to the next thing on the list, the lack of a table. The brothers were adamant on sitting on the ground and using banana leaves so that wasn’t going to change. Law then asked to at least be allowed to use a picnic cloth between the ground and the leaves. That seemed to be amusing enough for Sabo to agree. According to him, they’ve never tried that before. As for the sole wine cup making rounds, it was strange, but Law thought it was rude complain about that anymore. 

 

It was late into the night by the time they were sitting down to eat. The chunks of rabbit meat were spread over the banana leaves that were arranged in a line on the picnic cloth with Law and Luffy sitting cross-legged on one side and Ace and Sabo on the other. The entire leafy surface served as both the table and the plate for all four of them. Between Luffy’s brothers was the ceramic jar that contained wine. Next to Sabo was a wooden ladle and a large cup. On one end was the bonfire, blazing like a flame lord sitting on the head of a long table of banana leaves.

 

Luffy fed Law. Yes, with his hands. Apparently, hand-to-mouth activities were so much of a turn on to him (“I can feel your lips on my fingertips, oh my gooooooooooooood, is that tongue?”) and Law was too tired to argue. However, the rabbit meat tasted so good that Law couldn’t help but pick out meat pieces to feed himself. They still shared a pile of rabbit meat chunks so Luffy let it go.

 

“Weekend, you say. How many nights is that from now?” Sabo asked as he poured wine from the jar and into the cup and handed it to Ace. It was his job to make sure the wine continuously made its rounds while they ate. Such a strange custom.

 

“Do you need me to lick your fingers yet?” Luffy piped in, trying to feed more rabbit meat into Law’s mouth with one hand and stuffing his own face with another. He was more focused on looking at Law’s tattooed fingers, though. More than once did he poke the corner of Law’s mouth instead.

 

“ _ No. _ And stop asking.” Law moved his head away as he counted the nights from tonight to next Saturday. “Let’s see… That’s… Six nights. Tonight not included.” 

 

“Six nights.” Sabo nodded, wiping his mouth with his arm. “Okay. Got it.”

 

“Is there anything we need to bring or remember?” Law asked, glancing at Luffy who was blinking expectantly at his human. 

 

“Mhm, good question!” Sabo licked his thumb and raised a rabbit meat to somehow help stress his point. “Just a token of good faith or thanks.”

 

Law nodded as he chewed. He wondered if demons in general liked giving and receiving tokens or only the ones he’s with right now. Did Luffy or Zoro even mention anything about tokens? Did  _ tips _ count as tokens to Nami? Maybe Law should list down these questions to ask.

 

“Now?” Luffy’s voice cut Law’s train of thought. Only then did he realize how he had been absently looking at Luffy who was still waiting for Law to let him lick his fingers. Law mouthed a “no”, which prompted a pout from his incubus.

 

“What do you suggest we bring?” Law asked as he tore a slab of meat into smaller pieces. “Food? Clothes? Or should it be our choice?”

 

“There isn’t really a right answer.” Sabo shrugged. Beside him, Ace spit a bone into the fire. “It’s just to thank her for accommodating you.”

 

“What does she like?” Law looked at his greasy fingers and considered licking it for a while before catching glimpse of a still very expectant pair of eyes from his side. Nope. No finger licking for now.

 

“Oh, a lot of things, actually!” Sabo perked in attention, not even noticing how Ace was stealing a significantly large piece of meat in front of him. “Let’s see. Well, first of all, she likes me but you can’t get her me, can you?” 

  
Ace choked on his food and had to wash it down with big gulps of alcohol. Sabo glared at him and his brother glared back before shoving the empty cup to his face. The jinn grumbled, refilled, downed the cup in one go, refilled, and handed it to Luffy.

 

“She likes nature, water, mana manipulation, berries, singing… Oh, and anything from outside Punk Hazard.” Sabo sat down with a very wide grin. “She likes new things. You should see her smile when she gets new stuff. Ah, her eyes just  _ shine _ like emeralds.”  

 

“For fuck’s sake, emeralds are  _ greeeeeeeeen _ !” Ace complained exasperatedly but Sabo didn’t seem to care.

 

Luffy laughed as he handed the now empty cup back to Sabo who refilled it for Law.

 

“Don’t pour the wine so high for Luffy’s human.” Ace spoke with his mouth full of rabbit meat.

 

“I know what I’m doing.” The blonde demon scoffed. “This is wine, not poison.”   
  


“Yeah, but he’s going to get drunk and that can get humans killed.”

 

“No, no, it’s fine.” Law smiled, holding back the urge to discuss how humans may or may not die from intoxication. “I can hold alcohol better than most. And I can tell when I need to call it quits.”

 

“See?” Sabo handed Law the cup as he made a face at Ace. “He’s not stupid.”

 

“Of course.” Luffy grinned happily with a bone sticking out from between his teeth. “He’s  _ my _ human, after all. He knows what he’s getting himself into.”

 

...Until after several cups of rabbit wine and he was fucking  _ gone _ .

 

“Yeah, so if you don’t have chloroform or whatever, you stick a needle through here. Here, man.  _ Here _ ? You hear me? Hahahahaha, get it? Here. Hear.” Law was trying to point to the top of his head or ear. Luffy wasn’t sure. The man was just flailing one arm at best. “Yeah, hurm, so anyway, you stick it in there like a… A… I don’t know, a stick. A pointy one.  _ Really _ pointy. Big needle. Something. Yeah… Where was I?  _ Urgh _ , wait, chloroform, brain, needle, brain, stick… Oh, yeah. Okay, so, you stick it here then you move it around really quick. Like quick. Quick, quick, quick circular movements and then poof, poof! The motherfucker’s  _ paralyzed _ .”

 

Prior to that drunken tirade, Luffy had never heard Law say so many incoherent words over a short period of time. 

 

“I don’t know what korofo is but does the stick thing work on humans only or…?” Sabo drank from the cup without averting his eyes from Law. 

 

“It works with practically  _ anything _ with a brain.” Law made a gesture with his hand as he leaned lazily against Luffy. “Like,  _ anything _ , man. With a brain.”

 

“Fascinating.” Sabo mumbled thoughtfully as he refilled the cup for Luffy. 

  
“I  _ knoooooooooow _ , right?” Law laughed, slapping his greasy hand on one knee.

 

Luffy started drinking his wine, eyes on his human the entire time. Ace and Sabo did not seem to be bothered by how talkative Law had suddenly become or how he was barely able to sit up on his own. Some of his words were slurred. Most of his ideas were disjointed. He often lost his point, went in circles, laughed at something that wasn’t funny, and so on and so forth. What’s worse was that his brothers actually looked interested as they listened. One particular instance, Ace lost his shit when Law started explaining how different colors of fire meant heat variation. While Ace was screaming “Bullshit!” after hearing how white flames were the hottest (“Law is still hottest.”, Luffy argued), Sabo explained how he created fire by making the air burst into flames. Law responded with an explanation about combustion. Sabo looked so proud of himself after that. He even made a joke about “Sabombustion”, which Law found uncharacteristically  _ hilarious _ enough to almost choke on his food.

 

“You know a lot of useful stuff.” Ace said, nodding as he stared at Law. “I mean, who knew rainbows were made like that?”

 

“Yeah.” Sabo rubbed his chin. “I’m going to show that rainbow trick to Koala. I want her to gush over me.”

 

“Her and her  _ blue emerald _ eyes.” Ace grimaced, watching Luffy hand Sabo the cup so he could refill it. Oh, it was Law’s turn to drink. Probably not a good idea. Law was already in bad shape. The only silver lining was Law being very mushy. He randomly breathed into Luffy’s neck, pecked a kiss on his lips (or sometimes where he thought his lips were), and whispered either sweet nothings or naughty things in his ear. In as much as Luffy wanted his human to be  _ frisky _ forever, he’d rather the man become so without the influence of intoxicating substances.

 

“You okay, munchkin?” Luffy asked despite the glaringly obvious answer.

 

“Just…” Law coughed and dug an elbow into Luffy’s thigh like he wasn’t leaning on him enough yet. “... _ Peachy. _ ”   
  
What the fuck did Law even mean by that? Luffy decided to ask a different question.

 

“Can I lick your fingers?”

 

“ _ Anything _ , baby.”

 

Aaaaaand that was the decider. Law had only said two words, but that was all Luffy needed to know he wasn’t okay. So Luffy vehemently shooed away the next cup that Sabo was offering. Law tried protesting but he was too busy keeping himself from falling back sideways to be convincing. 

 

“Whose house do you think this is!?” Law complained at the closest plant he could yell at.

 

“Excellent point.” Sabo walked around the bonfire and handed the cup to Law. “Can’t argue with that now, can we?”

 

“Sabo, I said—Oh my  _ god _ , Sabo, you idiot!”

 

Luffy’s complaint was as good as nothing. Law immediately grabbed the cup in his terribly uncoordinated fingers, spilling some of the wine on the grass and on himself (Luffy considered licking except this wasn’t the right time) as he downed like a very thirsty man. The wine trickled down the corners of his mouth, the side of his face, his neck… And Luffy was starting to lose his shit about how his tongue would be of really good use to help clean that up right now.

 

“Calm down, Luffy.” Ace was piling more meat in front of him. “Law said he can hold his alcohol and he knows when to quit.”

 

“No, actually, he’s drunk.” Sabo laughed as he walked back to his spot next to the large jar.

 

“Then stop giving him wine, you stupid jinn!” Ace frowned and lightly kicked Sabo. “This is a token of apology, not a banquet of death!”

 

“Yeah, you tell him, Ace!” Luffy yelled but was still looking at Law’s rather wet chest. 

 

“Hoooohhh, no, no, no, no, it’s fiiiiine.” Law slurred as he attempted to plant a kiss on Luffy’s cheek but missed and kissed the underside of his jaw instead. And, damn, that was hot. Law chuckled and made his way to Luffy’s lips. Not that his brothers cared. They were already talking about something else.

 

Mortification over public displays of affection was the last of Law’s concerns now. He sucked gently and hummed contentedly against Luffy’s lips, turning the demon’s borrowed heart into jelly. The kiss tasted like rabbit meat and wine but when his human’s tongue slid inside his mouth, all Luffy could taste was Law. And he prayed all Law could taste right now was  _ him _ . Because that would be awesome. And perfect. And romantic. And holy fucking shit, Law was now falling sideways!

 

“Law!” Luffy immediately grabbed his human just before his shoulder hit the ground. His head dangled dangerously as he mumbled incoherent noises.

 

“Holy fuck, did he die!?” Ace exclaimed as he stood up, leaping over the banana leaves to get to both Law and Luffy.

 

“No, he’s not dead, you worry worms.” Sabo burped after drinking his wine and poured one more cup for himself. “He’s just really drunk. Let him sleep and drink lots of water and he’ll be fine.”

 

“Are you sure?” Luffy and Ace chorused. Law just garbled another noise.

 

“I’m  _ sure _ . Koala told me about drunk humans.” 

 

Ace and Luffy looked skeptical.

 

“What?” Sabo lifted the glass to his lips and took two gulps. “I said I’m sure. He’s not gonna die.”

 

Luffy grumbled. Sabo rolled his eyes away, bottomed up the cup, and refilled it as he said, “He’s fine. I’ll kill myself if he dies.”

 

“I’ll kill  _ Koala _ if he dies.” Luffy said sharply.

 

“You can fucking try.” Sabo glared at him from the side.   
  


“I won’t  _ try _ . I  _ will _ .”

 

“Ooookay, that’s enough of that, children…!” Ace started clapping as he marched towards Sabo and grabbed the cup he’d just poured for himself. “I’d be so bothered if I ended up killing the dude I was supposed to be apologizing to. God damn it, Sabo.”

 

“Well, with Law out cold,  _ not dead _ , that’s our cue to go.” The blonde jinn wiped his fingers on the ceramic jar before he stood up. “You can keep the wine and the rest of the meat. It’s Law’s anyway.”

 

“You going to be okay?” Ace put his hands on his hips as he looked at Luffy. “Or you need help taking care of your human?”

 

“I’ll get around.” Luffy was adjusting Law in his arms. “It’s not like you guys can stay with us ‘til morning anyway.”

 

Law groaned, one hand feeling the grass to find Luffy before shifting uncontrollably and burying his face against Luffy’s shoulder instead. He was twisted at the waist, one of his legs moving like he was trying to push himself off the ground.

 

“Did I do it?” Law said breathily as he made circular gestures with one finger. “Did I pass? Are we okay?”

  
“Do  _ what _ ?” Luffy sighed, half-worried, half-relieved. At least the man was alive. Ridiculously drunk, yes. But  _ alive _ .

 

“Your brothers.” Law mumbled as he tried to find a comfortable position in Luffy’s arms. “Do they like me yet?”

 

The incubus immediately shot said brothers a very sharp glare as if to say “See what you made him feel”. Ace loudly slurped more wine but kept his eyes on Law.

 

“They’re idiots. Don’t mind with them.”

 

“No, what are you talking about?” The words were breathy and drawn out as they left Law’s lips. “They’re your brothers. I want their blessing.”

 

“We’re demons.” Ace was talking with his mouth full. “We don’t know how to bless anything.”

 

“I don’t caaaaare.” Law smirked and kicked one leg in what seemed to be a very drunk and short-lived tantrum. “I just want you to let Luffy be with me. Like, like, like, I dunno, man. I don’t even like wine, y’know? I don’t. But I didn’t wanna disrespect you gentlemen.”

 

Two seconds of silence and blinking. Three. Four. Law was still mumbling something no one could understand.

 

“Oh.” Ace was the first to react. “Really now? Well, that’s…” He briefly turned to Sabo who was nodding like they were agreeing on something. “...That’s actually pretty cool, Law. Thank you.”

 

“He called me a gentleman.” Sabo sounded pleased and flattered.

 

“You’re very fuckin’ welcome.” Law lifted his hand to raise a cup he wasn’t holding anymore before turning up to Luffy. “See? S’fine, baby.”

 

Drunk Law was so cute and fuckable. Luffy might die of abstinence.

 

“Ssh.” The incubus was smiling when he kissed his human on the forehead. “You worry over nothing.”

 

“Wuh-whuaa… You don’t believe me.” Law whined, twisting in Luffy’s arms where he was slumped. “Lu-Luffers. Lufs. Luff-luff. Hey, you listening? If we’re gonna be together, I’ve to be able to take care of you. How am I going to do that if I don’t know anything, eh? Ehh? Eeeeehhhh? Ehhnnggghhaaahhh...”

 

He trailed off into a yawn mixed into a bunch of garbled words that still made no sense. Sabo laughed. The cold wind blew as if to laugh with him. Law groaned, nudging against Luffy to find warmth.

 

“Let’s get you inside.” Luffy kissed Law on the cheek and then looked at his brothers. “Thanks for the token.”

  
Ace nodded at him. Luffy nodded back with a smile, picked up his human, and carried him into the house. After carefully putting Law down on the couch, Luffy padded back outside to bring in the ceramic jar and try to fix whatever mess they made. He was quite surprised to see his brothers still standing outside. They were murmuring to each other seriously and only stopped when they saw Luffy come out.

 

“What’s up?” Luffy slowly started towards the ceramic jar.

 

“We wanted to talk to you.” Sabo said levelly, shooting a careful side glance at Ace as if to check his reaction. Their older brother was standing rigidly, staring at Luffy with concerned but authoritative eyes.

 

“Yeah?” Luffy walked towards his brothers instead.

 

“We’re not bringing this up just ‘coz he’s drunk but...” Ace’s tone was low but he didn’t sound as careful as Sabo. “Law’s a cool guy. We don’t hate him. We actually like him, but it’s  _ you _ we’re worried about. Are you sure about this?”   
  


_ This _ , he said.  _ This _ being Luffy’s relationship with Law.

 

“You know what happens if one day he decides that he doesn’t want you anymore.” Sabo added with an uneasy tone. “There’s no turning back once you decide on him.”

 

Luffy opened his mouth but Ace put a firm hand on his shoulder and said, “With how you were talking a while ago… We’re worried you’ll get lovesick.”

 

_ Lovesick? I’m not lovesick. _

 

“It’s not like that.” Luffy smiled. 

 

Sabo furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“Remember when I said I was low on mana when I trying to save Law from the wolves? Well, I …” Luffy stopped and looked away for a while, chewing on his lip. “I… actually tried feeding on a couple of people out of desperation.”

 

_ Lies _ .

 

“Minus the sex, of course. I was in a hurry.”

 

_I’m lying._ _Why am I lying?_

 

“Did it work?” Ace tilted his head and crossed his arms.

 

_ No, because I didn’t do it. _

 

“Aside from it felt good sinking teeth into skin and drinking blood, it helped me none.” Luffy shook his head. “Guess I’m really totally dependent on him because of the contract. But he’s a cool guy so I don’t really mind. Point is, do you think I could’ve fed on other people if I were lovesick?”

 

_ False. Just imagining trying to feed on anyone else is disgusting. _

 

Ace wordlessly looked at his blonde brother.

 

“Does Law know?” Sabo’s facial expression was giving away nothing. “Does he know you tried to feed on other people?”

 

“He doesn’t.” Luffy sighed. 

 

_ He mustn’t. I don’t want him to know I’m lying. _

 

“I don’t want to tell him because I don’t want him to think he’s insufficient. It’s complicated but he needs me here.”

 

“You don’t love him?” Sabo’s demeanor had not changed. 

 

“Of  _ course _ , I do!” Luffy sounded offended. “But just because I do love him doesn’t mean I’m lovesick. Just look at you and your infatuation with Koala...”

 

“That’s different. I’m not sick. I know because I keep myself in check.”

 

“And I  _ don’t _ ?” Luffy furrowed his eyebrows. “Why? ‘Coz you think I  _ can’t _ ? I’m incapable of keeping myself from being lovesick?”

 

“That’s not what I—”

 

“Look, I appreciate that you’re worried about me.” Luffy tried to speak with a tone of finality. He wasn’t sure if it was working. “I know you’re doing this to protect me. I’d probably do the same for you, but  _ please _ , let this go. Law  _ needs _ me here.” 

 

His two older brothers looked at each other.

 

“Okay, then.” Ace smiled, patting Luffy on the arm. “Just making sure.”

 

Sabo did not look convinced. Whatever was on his mind, however, he chose not to share. The freckled fire demon clapped and the flames in the garden died into a puff of smoke.

 

“Let your human rest.” Sabo turned to the big jar. “There’s still wine. You guys can drink it when he’s better.”

 

Luffy nodded.

 

Before they left, Ace offered to carry the ceramic jar inside the house. Sabo, on the other hand, gathered what was left of the rabbit meat and set it on a banana leaf on the counter. Luffy covered it with a plate. And then on to his next mission—to get Law to the bedroom.

 

Law had probably mumbled an entire paragraph by the time they got upstairs. Upon setting foot on the second floor, his first order of business was to lumber into the bathroom, hug the toilet bowl, and puke his guts into it. Luffy had seen this happen to drunk humans multiple times in bars and beer houses before. He remembered laughing at the poor things as they cried, vowing never to drink again only to come back some other day. But now that it was happening to Law, it looked more fatal than funny. In fact, Luffy was so vocally worried that his human shooed him out the door so he could brush his teeth in peace.

 

“The stench of my own breath will be the death of me.” 

 

Beyond the door, Luffy could hear Law vomit, groan (“God, my insides”), and gargle mouthwash. He’d pause a bit before he’d repeat in the same order.  Vomit, groan, gargle. Vomit, groan, gargle. Such a drunken cycle.

 

Luffy sighed and slid down against the bathroom door until he was seated with arms over his raised knees. What was he to do with his human? Calling Nami or Zoro seemed to be a good course of action but both of them were most probably “busy” at this time of night. The last thing Luffy needed right now was to hear someone getting fucked at the other end of a telephone line. Maybe he should call Baby Five? Cora-san? No. He didn’t want Law’s family to think he was a dumb boyfriend or that his brothers were dreadful. The incubus sighed, running a hand across his face and then two hands through his hair.

 

Sabo said Law wouldn’t die. It’s just alcohol. Why was Luffy so worried? 

 

Because he loved Law. The thought of losing him was scarier than Luffy could even imagine. That and the conversation he had with his brothers was gnawing on him as early as now.

 

“It’s too much.” Luffy mumbled cautiously. “I’m lovesick.”

 

Luffy covered his mouth. He’d spoken the words just loud enough so he could hear but it seemed to echo. It sounded like the thrum of a taut bowstring. Luffy had been trying to avoid thinking about how his feelings for Law had spiraled deeper than he could grasp. That was a bad idea.

 

Demons weren’t made to fall in love. It wasn’t because they were evil or meant to breed hate. It was because to them, love was deadly. Too much of it would lead to disease. For demons, love was a deeper, destructive obsession that made them forget how to function. Lovesickness, they called it. And it was dangerous as it was sly. It made them lose interest in feeding on other mortals. It made them prioritize their chosen human over anything and everything else, including their own well-being. It made them happy, sad, desperate, insecure, and worried over things that used to not matter. It made them forget what being a demon was all about.

 

All of which were happening to Luffy. None of which he was regretting.

 

Luffy should be scared. Lovesickness had no cure. All its roads led to demise. Even if a demon’s feelings were reciprocated, there would come a time when mortality would claim the human. The demon would be left alone, unable to love another for all of eternity. Love’s punishment was a slow, grueling deterioration. It would start from the inside, gnawing at their sanity, and plaguing their waking days with such pain that would reduce them to a sickly shell of themselves. Whether they would choose to stay awake or resign themselves in deep slumber, both roads would lead to the same end—death by starvation.

 

Luffy had been unable to grasp the severity of lovesickness until now.

 

And it wasn’t like Luffy didn’t know anyone who was lovesick. He did. Zoro had it. His lovesickness over Sanji drove him to monogamy, a state of mind that incubi and succubi were  _ never _ born to be. It made him resort to tears, threat, blackmail,  _ murder _ . Perhaps it was punishment that one day, he’d have to die slowly and painfully without Sanji by his side. He used to think Zoro would eventually fall in love with someone else but then Luffy met Law and… And if he lost Law…

 

He didn’t even want to think of it. 

 

How did Sabo do it? How was he able to maintain his feelings with Koala and not be repulsed by the idea of feeding on anyone who wasn’t her? In fact, it was because of Sabo and his human that Luffy thought he could try love with Law. How wrong. How careless. How utterly naive. Despite these realizations, however, Luffy was  _ still _ without regrets.

 

_ I should be scared… But I’m not. _

 

The sound of continuous running water distracted him from his thoughts. Why was that the only sound coming from the bathroom anymore? Three knocks and no response later, Luffy clicked the door open. The lights were out but that didn’t keep Luffy from seeing Law’s unmoving shirtless body groaning and lying on the floor.

 

“Oh! Oh,  _ fuck _ !” Luffy tried to figure what to do about his human. “What are you doing on the floor?! What happened to your shirt?! Are you okay?!”

 

“I’m not okay. I’m  _ Law _ .”

 

“I’m not kidding.” Luffy reached for the faucet and turned it off.   
  
“‘Course you’re not. You’re Luffers.”

 

“ _ Law. _ ”

 

“ _ Luffles. _ ”

 

Fuck. Cute nicknames aside, there was no hope trying to make conversation with  _ this _ Trafalgar Law. The alcohol had gotten to him. Luffy should smack Sabo in the head the next time.

 

“You need to get to bed.” The demon began but Law limply swatted his hand away.

 

“You need to wash your greasy hands.”

 

Luffy rolled his eyes away but did what he was told anyway. When he was done with that, Luffy tried to get Law up on his feet or knees, whichever came first so he could half-drag, half-guide his human to the bed. It almost took forever with how slow they were going. Good god, Luffy should hit Sabo in the head  _ twice _ . 

 

From the bathroom to the bed, Law kept trying to get out of his pants (“It’s so fucking hot and icky.”) and had gotten it down to his knees by the time Luffy got him to the mattress. He lay on his back unceremoniously, humming an unfamiliar tune as his demon helped him out of his clothes. Law kicked his pants off when the darned thing got to his ankles. It fell with a soft thump on the floor as Law sighed in relief. The man actually tried to remove his last piece of clothing, too, but Luffy managed to stop him. Oh, the  _ irony _ of it all.

 

Why was the man tempting the demon? Why and  _ how _ ?

 

So many pointless thoughts. If Luffy didn’t know better, he’d say he was drunk, too.

 

But before anything else could happen, Law was pulling Luffy’s shirt off his head and throwing it off the bed.

 

“It’s hot.” The man reasoned like Luffy was asking for an explanation.

 

“Come.” Law called and Luffy almost replied with “At least touch me  _ somewhere _ if you want me to” as Law pulled him into an embrace. It was kind of awkward at first, with Law’s chin digging into Luffy’s temple. After some adjustments, they ended up lying on their sides facing one another, arms around each other. Law’s breath smelled of cold mint but warm in a way that maybe only Luffy would understand. 

 

Perhaps there were many things about them that only Luffy would understand. Maybe even if Law knew, he wouldn’t be able to grasp it.

 

“Law…?” He had spoken without thinking.

 

“Hm?”

 

“If I die…”

 

“Why would I let you die?” Law murmured his interruption. “Am I that incompetent to make you think I’d just let you die…?”

 

“No…!” Luffy exclaimed, cupping Law’s cheeks and removing his hands as soon as he saw the man wince at the sudden movement. “I mean… I mean, if you die, I’ll die, too, you know.”

 

“Then I’ll die with you.” He sounded a little less drunk but that could yet be another thing Luffy was imagining. And maybe the feelings of warmth stirring from those words weren’t real either. Law’s death wasn’t something he’d want even if it was just a thought, even if it meant he’d die for him, for  _ them _ . Should Luffy tell him that or would it make Law feel insecure?

 

“Well… If you die…” Luffy hesitated but continued. “...Would you let me die with you?”

 

_ And not eventually. I meant die with you. Right at the same instant you go. _

 

“Then I don’t want to die.” Law yawned, speaking a bit too casually for Luffy’s taste.

  
“You’re a human being. You can’t live forever.” The demon complained. “You’re not like me.”

 

There was some pain in that truth. Luffy could live forever, could live long after Law was gone. But then without Law, it wouldn’t be living, would it? It’d be death, yes. It would be dying everyday and never staying dead.

 

_ What wouldn’t I give to be human like you? To be human and be with you? _

 

“Then if I die, wait for me.” The man said after a small noise. “We can find each other when I’m reborn.”

 

And that… was wishful thinking. It was a faint hope, likely to be false, laughable at best. Reincarnation wasn’t a thing that was ever proven. And even if it were possible, what were the odds of them finding each other? But a shot at the dark was better than having none.

 

Or was it the alcohol thinking and talking?   
  
“Don’t get drunk ever again.” Luffy sighed, feeling weary suddenly. Law only laughed. It was a nice sound but not as perfect as his other laugh. That one was  _ music. _

 

“May I kiss you?” Law said instead, sniffing around like he was trying to look for his boyfriend’s lips. As the demon wondered if his human was comfortable lying on his side, Law had found his eyes and kissed them. Luffy tipped his head up to help him—the poor adorable drunken thing who can’t even navigate a face— and gently brushed their lips against each other. Law hummed in appreciation, pressing closer. Lightly. Carefully. Lovingly, perhaps? Or was he only drunk? Again, Luffy wasn’t sure.

 

Law’s hands travelled across Luffy’s body, but not in a way that was trying to be sensual or teasing. It was a strange touch—curious, innocent, affectionate. Luffy could feel the warmth of his fingertips brushing against his skin. It was unlike the way that Law’s touches made his body catch fire. This one was warm like sitting next to the fire on a cold, snowy day. Luffy moaned. It felt good. Not the lustful, passionate kind of good but still… still  _ good _ , nonetheless. But what did it mean?

 

“I love you.” Law murmured against Luffy’s lips.

 

“I love you, too.” Luffy whispered back dreamily. He hoped his breath felt warm enough to be comforting as well. 

 

Law smiled, arms slightly tightening around his small lover. 

 

“I love you two thousand.”

 

Law kissed him again and again, softer each time until he drifted into sleep with his lips still against Luffy’s. The demon sighed, unmoving, thinking about how love was like alcohol. He had hoped to drink from the cup without losing himself in it but one sip was all it took and he was drowning without regret, blindly and madly in love with the human who had stolen his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter would’ve been up waaaaaay earlier (as in a month earlier) but I've been and still kinda am in difficult circumstances. FEEDBACK ENCOURAGED!!


	26. Let The Grown Men Speak

_ If the stairs were made of wood, the steps would have creaked under my weight. _

_ Such random thoughts. _ Killer scratched his forehead but only managed to rub the surface of his striped mask as he walked up the stairs to Kid’s room.

The two-story abandoned building where their entire pack crammed themselves into was no luxurious hotel but it would serve. Heat and Wire managed to get water and electricity running, which was honestly all they needed. Well, that and an internet connection and cable TV but they could do away with such luxuries given their current situation, Killer thought.

Kid’s room was almost pitch black if not for the soft moonlight that slanted between the gaps of the broken blinds that had been pulled down. But Killer didn’t need light to see how the space was littered like a labyrinth of trash. Killer had been with this pack since the day he was born but he still couldn’t figure out how Kid managed to clutter his room like he’d been imprisoned in it for decades despite being in it for twenty-four hours or less.

There was a dented rusty pail that was now an overflowing trash can beside what was supposed to be a small, cushioned chair. It was almost unnoticeable thanks to the pile of clothes that had been haphazardly thrown on it. Next to the laundry-infested chair was a small wooden table cluttered with boxes, wires, and  _ more clothes _ . There was a jacket and a pair of denim pants on the lamp. Killer was willing to bet there was underwear there, too. Boxes and plastic bags with morsels or half-eaten food were everywhere. On the floor were screws, metal scraps screwdrivers, hammers, broken saw blades, broken bottles, empty bottles, inscribed objects, and whatnot lying around like a trail of Kid’s work. What Killer’s eyes followed, however, were the droplets of blood and glowing green liquid leading to the bed where the injured red-haired leader of their pack lay wheezing.

At that point, the cluttered room with its faded walls and broken ceiling no longer mattered.

_ My lord is stubborn. _

“My lord…” Killer began.

Kid’s yellow eyes flicked up angrily. A growl rumbled loud enough from between his teeth to make the blonde man shake his head and correct himself.

“Kid.”

His red lord said nothing before turning back to his task at hand. 

 

Had the circumstances been different, Killer knew that Kid would have chosen to reprimand him with fangs bare and claws out. Such was his annoyance at being called “lord” despite assuming his position as head of the Eustass clan… or what remained of it. The fact that Kid did not even utter a word only proved how strenuous his current activity was and how little strength he had left.

Metal bolts, wires, and rods protruded from his left arm—his bad arm, the arm he refused to accept he had lost—on which he been forcefully installing braces amidst a ribbon of his own blood. He was grunting and gritting his teeth, glaring at the large metal arm at the end of his self-installed mechanism. The giant square fingers were silent for a moment until its index finger started creaking and curling albeit rather erratically.

“F-fuck...” Kid huffed with a big, irritated exhale as his head dropped on the blood-stained mattress. The bed’s one shaky leg made a small wooden whimper. The large finger fell with one last grating metallic whimper.

“We need to get that taken care of.” Killer nodded at the limp arm without moving from the doorway.

“The hell do you think this contraption is for?!” Kid snarled, more impatient than angry as he grit his teeth again. He grunted, wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead and neck. Putting on this brace was more difficult and painful than Kid could properly  _ fathom _ . The fact that had not regained the use of his arm despite his insane healing abilities as a werewolf was insulting. His arm wasn’t even “broken”. It was just “cursed to not function”. And the body could not heal what wasn’t injured.

But it wasn’t his body that this silence curse was taking a stab at. It was his pride as an alpha wolf. He would be an idiot not to know that this was both a mockery and a warning.

Never fuck around with warlocks.  _ Never _ .

Perhaps the silencer was thinking that his own pack would tear him apart and choose a new leader among themselves, someone who would know better than to pick a fight with mana-weilding humans. But this pack was unlike others. His wolves were very loyal to him. This was despite the fact that a pack with an eternally injured alpha wolf would be the laughing stock of the entire  _ world _ .

“I’m going to kill him.” Kid growled angrily, trying to form a fist with his limp hand and failing. “I’m not giving up on that Trafalgar.”

“Of course, we aren’t.” Killer shrugged as a matter of factly. “We’ve sacrificed too much to give up now.”

“On the contrary, you’ve sacrificed enough for that particular prey.” Said a cold, deep voice from behind Killer. “If ‘sacrifice’ is what you want to call biting off more than you can chew.”

A tall man donning a long dark blue coat and a ruffle-neckline shirt underneath stepped into the room. His long, pale face with apathetic eyes was framed with golden locks of wavy hair parted in the middle and fell down to his waist. He wore a belt of pink cloth and yellow beads and a pair of deep purple pants. The sound of his boots was nothing but soft clacks against the floor. A buckle of a leather belt that fell from the doorknob where it was hanging made a louder noise. Killer sighed. He should get around to tidying up as the cousins exchanged…  _ pleasantries. _

“Scarecrow.” Kid greeted.

“You do know my name is Basil Hawkins. Choose one or the other.” Said the man without a change in tone as he walked towards the only chair in the room. Killer made a small surprised sound before closing the door and hurrying to remove the mountain of clothes to reveal the old black chair with the faux leather peeling and flaking like dry, blistered skin.

“Scarecrow.” Kid insisted.

“Red dog.” Hawkins patted the seat, not amused by the cloud of dust that made him crinkle his nose.

_ Red Wolf. _ Killer wanted to correct him but thought better of it.

“What do you want?”

“To help you.” The Scarecrow replied, turning to the red-haired wolf on the red-stained bed.

“I don’t need your help.” Kid glared. Hawkins’ reply was to raise his hand and point a long, bony finger at the injured arm.

“That looks horrendous.”

“Get out!” Kid sat up, stumbling forward after forgetting about his large metal arm. Killer gasped in surprise, dropping the heap of clothes on the table. A number of objects fell on the floor, clattering and thudding like an interlude to an argument. Basil Hawkins didn’t even budge.

“Sit.”

The word had barely left the Scarecrow’s lips when brown stems and dry vines quickly shot out from the wall cracks to coil around Kid’s limbs and forcefully pull him down on the bed. The alpha wolf roared and cursed and thrashed, tearing at the sheets and kicking against the floor in protest. He was rowdy enough to make the bed hit the wall and crack into the plaster but it was not enough to free him from the constriction.

_ He had not recovered from the encounter at Punk Hazard. He’s still weak. Weaker. Significantly weaker. _

But Killer didn’t say that.

Hawkins did.

“Your clash with the warlocks drained you to such weakness.”

Killer was thankful he was wearing a mask. He didn’t know what kind of grimace flashed across his face just now.

“What did you say…!?” Kid yelled, ignoring the pain and the irritable sticky mix of sweat and blood on his skin. He thrashed about again, less threatening now that the branches had tightened around him like brown snakes hissing as they slithered to find anchor around and underneath the bed where it found more cracks on the floor. The Scarecrow stood quietly without a change in expression even as Kid hurled insults and curses at him.

“If you want me to leave you like this, you only need to say so.” Hawkins finally spoke and then turned to Killer who had abandoned the impossible task of making the room look presentable in sixty seconds. “I can come back once this red dog has calmed down. Or never, if he so chooses.”

“Did  _ you _ call him here!?” Kid shouted at Killer. “Did you tell him I needed help!?”

“You do.” The blonde werewolf sighed.

“I  _ don’t _ !”

“You obviously do.” Hawkins said, his tone still unchanging. “Your arm needs tending to.”

“Get your fucking straw fingers  _ away  _ from me!” Kid struggled loudly and uselessly as Hawkins approached the bed, folding his sleeves up his arm. “Don’t think I don’t know that you only want to look at my cursed limb to satisfy your curiosity!”

“These curious straw fingers could be your only chance at getting your arm back.”

“Bullshit! You haven’t unraveled a silencer’s curse in your life!”

“What insult.” Hawkins was eyeing at the arm in question. “Of course, I have.”

“I doubt you can unravel  _ this _ !” Kid was talking to his cousin but was looking disgustedly at the dry vines that were crawling and coiling around the metal framework around his arm. “This god damned curse spread so fast, you’d think it was water!”

“I was informed of such details.”

 

“Killer, you  _ told him _ , you fucking traitor!?” Kid hollered like a toddler with a tantrum. “I will murder you!”

The masked man shrugged and crossed his arms. His lord didn’t mean his threats. He never did. Not to him.

 

But Hawkins did not care.

“Eustass Kid, do you want your arm back or not!?”

For just a split second, Hawkins’ face changed into that of a scarecrow with angry yellow irises and black sclera and a slashed black crescent for a mouth. His words sounded like angry hissing from hell, lashing out like a shrill threat. His gaze aimed sharply at Kid like a throwing knife stabbing his flesh. The alpha wolf’s voice died down and his struggle ceased. The wolf’s own yellow eyes turned back into dark ones as his vision fell to the floor. Hawkins allowed him a few more seconds of silence before stepping closer, his face back to the pale, apathetic visage it had been earlier.

A new set of vines crawled up from a long crack on the floor, weaving themselves among each other until there was a brown chair of branches in front of the bed. Kid looked disturbed but said nothing.

“I’m going to have to plant a seed to stop you from bleeding any further.” Hawkins said levelly. Kid nodded.

“And then another seed to map out your arm.” At that, the red werewolf’s nostrils flared as his eyes widened at his cousin who was quick to retort, “Or would you rather I open you up to examine?”

Kid growled and looked away. The dried vines and branches uncoiled themselves from Kid’s limbs. Hawkins then leaned forward to inspect the cursed arm, clicking his tongue.

Killer let out a quiet exhale.

Eustass Kidd and Basil Hawkins. Both were lords of their own families suffering from different curses from different warlock clans during the infamous Warlocks’ Conflict several hundred years ago. The Eustass clan, a family of inventors, and the Basil clan, a family of alchemists, have worked together for centuries. They fought alongside each other during the Conflict, but the Basils lost to the Trafalgars and the Eustasses to the Vinsmokes. The Vinsmokes inflicted the Lycan’s curse upon the inventors and used the pack as one of the forces to fight the war. The Trafalgars, on the other hand, tested various spells on the Basils as part of their research, which resulted into turning the survivors into scarecrow-like creatures with plant-related abilities. They were considered failures not worth naming.

While it was said that the Conflict laid the foundation for today’s strongest warlock clans and led to an advanced age for mana manipulation and sorcery, it did not go without innocent casualties. Neither of the cousins were alive during the Conflict but the curse persisted to afflict them and what remained of their house. This included the lesser houses pledged to them and caught with them when the curse was inflicted. And it would continue to be passed on to their children and their children’s children until someone managed to undo the curse. Sadly, there was no cure for the Lycan curse and the experiments on the Basils were deemed irreversible to this day.

“Your pack is downstairs. I’ve seen to their injuries.” Hawkins’ voice broke both the silence and Killer’s thoughts. “They’re all out of mortal danger now.”

“Thank you.” Kid muttered without hesitation, his voice truly grateful and leagues apart from the rough, arrogant tone he was striking at his cousin earlier.

Killer smiled behind his mask. Their leader was rash and rude with no mercy for his enemies but he did not lack for care for his pack. Sometimes Killer thought he loved his followers more than himself.

While treating the entire pack earlier downstairs, Hawkins had commented on how it was a wonder that the warlocks killed none of them. He was quite surprised to learn that a single incubus did all the damage to everyone but Kid. But since it was common knowledge that incubi were not made to fight, the Scarecrow assumed that it was also the reason that none of them died. Killer had a different opinion. It seemed to him that the demon deliberately chose not to kill any of them despite being fully capable of doing so. For what reason, however, Killer wasn’t certain.

“What madness compelled you to strike?” Hawkins commented casually as he leaned back and watched his fingers turn into brown stems slowly branching out and intertwining to form a copy of Kid’s arm—a framework of twigs with various shades of brown. Killer noticed the appearance of three dark triangles above each of the Scarecrow’s eyebrows and a dark cross at the base of his throat.

“I saw a chance and I took it.” Kid responded easily.

“Fool.” Hawkins clicked his tongue as he watched the first layer of branches part to reveal more twigs underneath. Killer did not understand what he was doing but he didn’t think it was his place to inquire.

“It was stupid to attack him without more information.”

“I thought we stalked him enough.”

“If it had been enough, this wouldn’t have happened.” Hawkins crossed his legs, blinking thoughtfully at the cluster of interwoven dried vines that emulated Kid’s arm.

“That’s why I said I  _ thought _ it was enough.”

“We knew he was the Donquixote head’s nephew. That alone should have merited  _ at least _ a month more of observation or else we lower the probability of success.”

“ _ Again _ , motherfucker, I made an  _ assumption _ , which I have already admitted was a  _ miscalculation. _ ”

“Miscalculation.” The Scarecrow scoffed.

Hawkins’ pale index finger reached for his throat and traced a vertical line over the dark cross. A gash opened on his skin from where he pulled out a thin piece of what seemed to be a playing card. There was no blood or a glimpse of muscle, vein, or bone; nothing but a small black slit at the base of his neck. And even if this wasn’t the first time Killer was seeing the Scarecrow do such a thing, fucking  _ hell _ , he found it creepy all the same.

“Did you even know how ridiculously  _ ignorant _ this one was?” Kid talked over Killer who was about to say something but was only able to get one syllable out.

“No, but…” Hawkins replied as he started to slide the card between some of the twigs. He had not gotten a corner of his card in when it burst into flames, leaving nothing but smoke. Kid had gasped in surprise. Hawkins clicked his tongue before resuming his sentence. “Did you think the Trafalgars are stupid enough to let anyone with their name walk around like prey that’s begging to be hunted?”

That made Killer think.

Anyone carrying the surname of a powerful warlock clan would be required to know how to manipulate mana else they would be a shame to the family name. Now if Trafalgar Law  _ couldn’t _ manipulate mana for whatever reason, he would have been killed by his own clan without question. It was “safer for the family that way”.

So perhaps Trafalgar Law  _ wasn’t _ prey after all? No. He barely put up a fight. Then maybe they wanted him to die? That didn’t seem to be right either. Surely the Trafalgars had means to eliminate him if they wanted to, right? But Trafalgar Law was very much alive. So did that mean they  _ couldn’t _ kill him themeselves? Or  _ shouldn’t _ ?

_ Why? _

What could possibly stop a powerful warlock family from killing someone as ignorantly useless as  _ that _ ? Did Trafalgar Law manage to  _ flee  _ from his clan? Impossible. Unless he had help from the outside.

“The Donquixotes are protecting him.” Kid said surely as if he could read Killer’s thoughts. “A clone of their family lord showed up from his fucking  _ mana lock. _ ”

Killer could feel his eyes widen. This was the first time he was hearing that. Perhaps Kid was waiting for a better time to talk about it.

But the involvement of the Donquixotes made sense location-wise. The Trafalgars’ main territory was Flevance. Trafalgar Law was in Dressrosa, a long way from his possibly dangerous home. And while the Donquixotes’ main seat was in Marejois, Dressrosa was one of the territories under their jurisdiction.

“Just because the clone looked like him doesn’t mean it was made by him or anyone from his family.” Hawkins uncrossed his legs. “The Donquixotes  _ could _ be protecting him but the possibility exists that you are being misled. All assumptions are never facts unless proven to be so.”

The Scarecrow leaned forward, and poked two fingers into the twig arm. Killer looked at Kid to make sure this wasn’t hurting him in anyway and found the red-haired werewolf rolling his eyes away.

“I already answered that shit argument. But  _ fine _ . Point taken.” Kid smirked and shrugged. “Regardless, the Donquixotes are dumb not to teach him shit. Just like the Trafalgars. I mean, really? He came from one family and is protected by  _ another _ ? How the  _ fuck _ can he know nothing? Warlock training is supposed to start at an early age. Fuck, they’d train babies from the  _ womb _ if it were possible.”

Hawkins only spared him an unconvinced glance before pulling out two cards from the cross marking on his neck.

“He can’t even use his mana at will.” Killer added as if to reinforce his lord’s premise but then stopped, his back going rigid before turning to Kid. “Wait, no. He had a familiar.”

“So? He couldn’t fight.”

 

“But he  _ had a familiar _ !”

 

Kid rolled his eyes away again

 

“Familiar-schmiliar. Like that explains everything. The most he did was try to attack me with  _ mana prickles _ . What was his plan? Give me rashes?” The red-haired wolf growled impatiently. “So, yeah, sure, he had a familiar—a familiar  _ he couldn’t use _ .”

“Kid.” Killer took a step towards his alpha wolf, both of them totally ignoring how Hawkins was muttering something as one card hovered over his right hand and another over the twig arm. “No matter how pure his mana is, there is no way an ordinary human could snare a familiar by accident. And he tethered, remember? He sent mana to his familiar  _ directly _ . It was reckless, yes. The success rate for such a technique is so low, it could have killed even an experienced warlock in five minutes. And if a regular, untrained human managed to pull it off by some miracle, his inexperienced body wouldn’t be able to handle it. Pure mana would disintegrate him.”

“Then how is he alive!? Why didn’t he fight back!? Why was he so fucking  _ dumb! _ ?” Kid snarled. He was pissed not at Killer but at how they couldn’t get to an answer. “He didn’t even know I was coming! He hadn’t trained his demon! He couldn’t borrow regeneration at will! He couldn’t... Couldn’t  _ anything _ !”

“Exactly.” Killer raised a thick finger. “Someone with that last name, protected by another family, smelling  _ that dangerously nice _ , but without any knowledge about mana manipulation  _ or _ the world we’re moving in… How the do you think he’s still alive?”

Kid made a noise of contemplation.

 

“No one’s attacked him?” The alpha wolf shook his head. “Unlikely.”

“So they don’t want him to die but they don’t teach him to protect himself.” Killer spoke, crossing his arms as he looked up thoughtfully at the ceiling. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Why do they not just lock him up in a tower or something, then!?” Kid grumbled, flexing his phantom hand. The metal fingers creaked. Hawkins irritably clicked his tongue but Kid kept talking. “No one was following him around to protect him except for crazy demon slut. Why did they have to wait for him to be attacked?”

Both cards burst into white flames leaving only smoke in its wake.

“And this is why we should have waited.” Hawkins spoke with a tone of finality. “But you just  _ had _ to take that risk you mistook for an ‘opportunity’, didn’t you?”

“Meaning no offense although I don’t really give a shit if you  _ are _ offended,” Kid scratched his ear with his free hand. “But I really wasn’t expecting you to help fight this Trafalgar. Or  _ any _ Trafalgar for that matter.”

Hawkins did not even twitch but that insult didn’t go unnoticed judging by how the air around him immediately tensed before smoothing out shortly. Perhaps the Scarecrow immediately realized it wasn’t a jab at his strength or cunning. The Trafalgars cursed his entire clan after all. Until said curse is lifted, no mana-induced technique performed by any member of the Basil family could harm anyone who traced his lineage to Trafalgars. In the same way, no one from the Eustass clan could harm a Vinsmoke.

“Is that why you were so eager on eating his heart?” Hawkins leaned back into his woven chair again, watching the dried vines unravel themselves to turn back into Hawkins’ long, white fingers. The triangles above his eyebrows and the cross at the base of his throat disappeared. “Did you do it for my sake? Because you wanted to kill one of my casters’ kin?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,  _ dear cousin _ .” Kid replied with a smirk. “It’s just that I haven’t forgotten what his clan did to mine.”

“ _ Forgot? _ You speak as if you were there.” Hawkins shrugged. “I doubt the Trafalgar you are chasing knows of the failed experiment to reverse the Lycan curse. And even if he did, it’s not like he is responsible for the sins of his forebears.”

“He carries the sin of being born into that family.”

“That stupidity is what got your arm cursed. You lost your limb to a pointless grudge.”

“It’s not entirely just a grudge.” Kid half-laughed when Killer thought he would be angry. “Even if he doesn’t manipulate mana, just being a Trafalgar guarantees that his mana is very refined. Eating his heart will stabilize the Lycan curse. I’m not a fan of being unable to manipulate mana and uncontrollably changing into a wolf every full moon. But you know that already, don’t you?”

“Still doesn’t merit  _ that _ .” Hawkins nodded at his cousin’s arm.

“Is it just me or has my cousin developed some form of love for his casters?” Kid asked Killer before turning back to the Scarecrow. “Is it because you go to the same  _ schoolhouse _ ?”

“I harbor no love for your prey. I barely know him.” The blonde visitor said coolly. “I simply see it pointless to fault him for something he never did. But trust me when I say I would be glad to rid this earth of one of the Trafalgars.”

“Oh?” Kid sounded amused.

“It’s one more dead caster. One less person for me to fear.  _ You _ , on the other hand—”

“Anything on his arm?” Killer felt the need to intervene before this turned ugly.

Hawkins only looked at him from the corner of his eye, obviously displeased with the interruption.

“The curse is deeply rooted.” The Scarecrow sighed heavily, crossing his arms and legs. “There’s still traces of the curse but most of it has dissolved into your life essence and it will continue to do so in the coming days until there’s barely a trace of it. It’s made itself part of your system.”

Hawkins raised a finger when he saw Kid was about to say something.

“If I attempt to cut out what I can trace of it, there is a fifty percent chance of paralyzing the left side of your body, a thirty percent chance of paralyzing your entire body, and a ten percent chance of killing you.”

“A success rate of ten percent.” Kid muttered absently like he was still trying to add up the numbers as he spoke.

“Not so.” Hawkins shook his head. “There is a five percent chance that this curse will afflict me as well, a three percent chance that Killer gets afflicted as a third casualty due to his proximity, and a one percent chance that it inflicts all living creatures within a still undetermined radius. All of the last three probabilities does  _ not _ render you cured.”

“One percent.” Killer whispered, trying not to slip into a daze. “It’s  _ that _ potent?”

“Whatever silencer scripted this is certainly beyond our caliber.” Hawkins pressed his elbows on the armrests and wove his fingers together as he leaned forward.

“I _told you so_ , you dumb Scarecrow!” Kid exploded but he had no strength in him to get up so he kicked Hawkins’ wooden seat instead. “Why am I even surprised, eh!? I _knew_ that our mystery silencer was out of your league! I _told_ _you_ , it spread so fast! I barely had time to kill off my circuits! I bet you didn’t believe me, did you? I bet you didn’t think I knew how slow silence curses were supposed to be casted? You are out of your _mind_!”

“Am I?” Hawkins didn’t even bother to stir. “You provoked monsters beyond our league. Which one of us is out of his mind?”

Silence. Grumbling.

“More importantly, I never said we can’t do anything.” Hawkins snapped his eyes seriously at his cousin. Kid’s yelling died down like a silently urge for him to continue. Killer swallowed hard.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Kid grumbled.

“I doubt you can read what you’re looking for.” Said a deep voice that seemed to have come from within the walls. “So my money is on  _ no _ .”

“Who’s there!?” Kid motioned to stand up, stumbling forward after forgetting about his large metal arm. Hawkins got up as well, his wooden chair unraveling itself back under the cracks. The three young men looked around; the werewolves sniffing for a scent of their intruder but dangerously finding none. But their hearing found what their eyes and noses initially couldn’t. The sound of fine grain made them turn towards one of the ceiling corners where sand spilled ominously from a crack followed by the thick smell of tobacco.

“What the shit…?” Kid grumbled, ignoring the pain and the irritable sticky mix of sweat and blood on his skin. Killer immediately shushed him by defensively moving half-a-step in front of his alpha wolf as they both watched the sand grains crawl on the corners of the ceiling and the wall. It gathered towards the nearby chair, pushing the clothes off and slowly sculpting itself into an earthy silhouette of a man sitting with his legs crossed.

He was a large, middle-aged man with black slicked back hair that fell to the back of his ears. The large scar with stitches across his face and running over his nose went oddly well with how his heavy-lidded eyes stared disturbingly smug at both Kid and Killer. Sand quietly seeped like eerie wisps under the large pelted fur coat over his broad shoulders that swayed slightly as the grains completed his form on the chair.

This stranger looked human but he sure as fuck didn’t smell like one.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” There was a puff of smoke from where the cigar stuck out of his mouth. His left hand was still forming into what seemed to be a large golden hook.

“That sand making you high?” Kid raised his head, making sure to show his teeth as he spoke. “How ‘bout introducing your grainy ass?”

Normally, Kid would have skipped the questions and jumped to ripping his throat out but his current situation gave no room for that.

The man smirked and took a long drag from his cigar before puffing more smoke. He stared leisurely at Killer and then Kid and then Hawkins. The red-haired werewolf growled threateningly. The sand stranger merely scoffed. Kid eyed the ashes and embers of burnt tobacco that had fallen on his floor and contemplated how he was going to wipe it using this asshole’s stitched face.

“You  _ are _ new if you don’t know who  _ the _ alpha wolf in Dressrosa is.”

“You mean aside from me?” Kid scoffed back even more smugly. “That’s one alpha wolf too many, old man.”

The newly-arrived stranger raised a thin eyebrow, more amused than insulted as he laughed with slow, deep-sounded syllables that complimented the lazy smoke from his cigar before he broke into loud roaring laughter. When his audible  _ mirth _ had died down, he eyed Kid once again, striding towards him without breaking eye contact as the taller and older man approached.

“One alpha wolf too many, indeed…  _ Pup. _ ”

It was annoying how Kid wanted to make a fist with the phantom hand on his lost arm. He didn’t really want to admit it, but if he got into a fight with this other alpha, he’d probably get ripped to shreds especially with that… Wait. Kid sniffed discreetly. This stranger didn’t smell like a human but neither did he smell like a wolf. Both of the aforementioned creatures had no ability to change their composition like how this man turned into sand. Such abilities belonged to  _ demons _ . But this one didn’t smell like a demon either. Kid thought back to the string person from the Trafalgar’s heart but that one was hollow and empty. This one was pretty much alive.

Not a demon. Not a wolf. Not a human. Not a clone.

“I know you.” Hawkins finally found his voice. “You’re Sir Crocodile.”

_ Holy. Shit. _ Was all Kid could think of.

Sir Crocodile was a chimera, if the rumors were to be believed. He was originally a warlock cursed to be a werewolf until the Trafalgars grafted an elemental demon’s blueprints into him so he could be sand himself. He was a dangerous entity and how he escaped the Trafalgars would forever remain a mystery.

_Chimera. Chimera._ Kid repeated in his head. _A fucking man-made creature._ _Chimera._

“ _ Finally _ , we’re getting somewhere.” Sir Crocodile half-laughed, whirling back to step towards the chair, his coat rustling behind him. He didn’t sit. “I assume you know what I’m here for?”

The three young men looked at each other hesitantly. No answer.

“I gave you too much credit.” The man sighed, puffing smoke that danced up until it faded. “Blonde hair. Pointy shades. Pink coat. Shit-eating grin. Strings. You know what I’m talking about now?”

_ Only too well. _ Kid thought but held his tongue. How did this stranger even know about that encounter? Sir Crocodile laughed lowly, knowingly. Kid hated that.

“You’re hundreds of years too early to be taking on that monster, pup.”

Hawkins gave him a side glance as if to say ”I told you so.”. And that may have been true but Kid wasn’t about to sit around and—

“And _ you _ are capable of taking him on?” Hawkins asked with a pinch of annoyance that Kid rarely heard in his tone.

“Yes, _Scarecrow._ ” The older man spoke seriously, taking a drag from his cigarette before continuing, _“_ I actually have a bone to pick with that flamboyant motherfucker.”

Kid wanted to say something but couldn’t begin to figure out what he should say first. Even if Sir Crocodile had…  _ issues _ with the Donquixotes and the Trafalgars but it didn’t mean they could just work together. This creature was notoriously demented. Almost as ruthless as Doflamingo himself if not on par! Not only that, he was more than just cursed. He was an abomination—a creature born from a very ambitious experiment that even the warlocks deemed outrageous.

“What do you need us for, then?” Hawkins quickly asked almost impatiently. “I doubt you’re here for a leisurely chat.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I wouldn’t say  _ need _ .” Crocodile looked at the chair and touched the armrest but didn’t sit. “I daresay it’s  _ you _ who need me.”

 

“Screw you.” Kid’s voice was sharp, almost insulted.

 

“Keep talking like that and I won’t tell you where the Vinsmoke is.”

 

“Tss. What good is  _ that _ ?” Kid scoffed and almost spat. His large metal hand creaked as if to laugh with him. “The Vinsmokes are stale. They haven’t kept their warlock lines. Whatever Vinsmoke is left has diluted blood. Not one of my remaining casters can heal me.”

 

“This one has a demon.”

 

Hawkins’ jaw tightened. Both he and Killer turned to Kid who wasn’t sure what to say to that. A Vinsmoke with a demon meant his life essence was exposed to an extent of mana manipulation. If this one  _ willingly _ gave Kid his blood then perhaps it could purge the curse out of Kid’s arm.

 

It’s an  _ if _ , though.  _ If. _

 

“Liar.” The red werewolf finally spat out. Hawkins looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t. Sir Crocodile merely smiled and tilted his head with a low, “Oh?” When there was no answer from the three younger men, Sir Crocodile took that as his cue to continue.

“I know a safe place to plot everything if you’d like to discuss.”

“We don’t need your protection.” Kid snapped again.

“Good. Because I have no intention of protecting you.” The taller man nodded, eyeing Kid, Hawkins, and then Killer before looking around as if to mock the room. “But neither do I have any intention of conducting further negotiations and future planning in a hazardous dumpster like this. I don’t like interruptions.”

“Interruptions?”

“The Donquixotes are  _ never _ happy when that boy gets targeted.” Crocodile said with a huff as he leisurely walked around. ”It wasn’t difficult for me to find you. That family will have no trouble either. I trust you agree that this isn’t a safe place.”

Kid growled and was about to snap at him but the man’s eerie grey eyes turned to him. Something about them pushed the words back down his throat.

“And if we refuse to listen?” Killer asked levelly. “What do you plan on doing?”

“Why, I plan on doing nothing.” Crocodile shrugged as he sat down on the chair. “If you’re lucky, the pink feathered Puppeteer will find you and end you.”

“And if we’re not lucky?”

The man lifted his golden hook.

“The sickly Clown will find you first.”

Ominously, an evening breeze came and went. Everyone stood silently and unmoving, holding their breaths, contemplating. Kid let his eyes linger around the room without moving from where he stood as his sharp vision peered between two blades of broken blinds. Up in the night sky, the moon still hung like a solitary lamp. To the werewolves, this moon was not as peaked as it was the night before but it was the same moon nonetheless that looked down on everyone this night.

And it was the same moon that Baby Five was looking upon moments before she made her way down the hallway leading to the room where she would find the  _ heads _ of the Donquixote family. Or more accurately, the  _ head _ , as they should be treated as a single unit despite being two greatly different people.

_ United by a single person _ ,  _ which they both feel differently for. _

She didn’t even find that strange.

When Baby Five stepped into Uncle Doffy’s office, Cora-san’s Silence territory was already in effect. This wasn’t the first time she’d experienced it but the short second of adjusting to not hearing or feeling anything outside the dome was something she probably won’t get used to. It didn’t help that the air around the Donquixote brothers was always thick and strained.

Right now, the room was particularly tense. Ever since Law had gotten attacked by werewolves and barely survived, Cora-san had been alarmed almost a hundred percent of the time His aura kept on nagging at his very irritated brother until Law was deemed safe.

“What news?” Cora-san spoke to Baby Five from the couch where he was sitting cross-legged. His brother was behind his office table, sitting on his large executive chair. The large curtains were drawn closed and the room was dimly lit by the soft glow of faux candlelight on the wall.

Baby Five took out her phone and whispered “ _ Scara _ ”. The screen glowed and then died. Soon after, lines of light started coming out from the gadget. It moved in quick elegant strokes, drawing out a clean, glowing outline of the phone in thin-air. Baby Five tucked the physical phone back in her pocket and turned to the light phone hovering in front of her. She put two fingers on either of the diagonal corners and pulled, making the entire framework bigger. When it was the size of a textbook, she took it in her hands and swiped to navigate like she would a normal tablet. Glowing inscriptions spun on her fingertips as she tapped on the transparent but glowing screen. A steady thrumming from a mana circle that drew itself under her feet. The same mana circle glowed in her irises.

_ So much better than the physical phones Humbles like to use. _ Baby Five thought to herself. It was much safer, too, as it can’t be stolen with just a snatch and its contents could be safeguarded and even  _ trapped _ . It was during these times she felt thankful for the Donquixote family’s innovation.

With one final tap, it chimed a single note and Baby Five cleared her throat. Uncle Doffy exhaled as if to say “Finally”.

“The pack seems to have scattered.” She began, intently looking at the notes scripted using an alphabet made readable via a spell exclusive to the Donquixote family. “We have information on their whereabouts and we’re in the process of checking them all.”

She made two taps among other finger gestures. In an instant, there was a projection of a map for all three of them to see. Mana circles drew themselves under the Donquixote brothers. But where Baby Five’s was white, the brothers had a mix of silver and gold. Baby Five had always found that curious but knew better than to ask.

She waved three fingers over the image hovering in front of her and several dots lit up.

“This is the real-time mapping of the search. The blue spots represent areas that have yet to be checked. Blinking spots are being checked right now. Red ones are negatives.”

“There’s more red than blue.” Cora-san mumbled. His irises had the same rotating mana circles of silver and gold. Although Doflamingo’s eyes remain hidden behind his pointy shades, there was no doubt that he had glyphs in his irises as well. Otherwise, all the information that Baby Five was presenting would have been unreadable to him.

“It’s seems the pack had made necessary precautions on covering their tracks so we’re being careful.” Baby Five replied. Three blinking blue spots turned red. “Even our clairvoyants haven’t found them yet but they’re still on it as we speak. We’re not sure who their casters are, if said families are still alive or if we’re allied to any of them but Monet is on that.”

“What do you mean we’re not sure?” Cora-san sounded quite annoyed but changed into a calmer tone after clearing his throat almost immediately. “Didn’t Luffy tell us everything? The wolf’s surname… What was it again…?”

“Eustass.”

“Eustass, yes.”

“A family of inventors from the south.” Doflamingo sounded bored. “Weren’t a powerful house but significant enough to be turned into wolves during the Conflict.”

“So?” The younger was talking to his sibling but was looking at the map. “Isn’t it a matter of finding which family cursed them and making said family deal with their blunder?”

“They’re supposedly turned by the Trafalgars.” Baby Five’s reply made Cora-san turn his head towards her. “But we’ve proven that to be false because he was able to lay his hands on Law. So we’re assuming it’s one of the houses once allied to the family.”

A second of silence. Donquixote Rocinante made a small sound and shrugged. He gestured for her to continue.

“As for Sir Crocodile...”

“Drop that.” Doflamingo waved a gloved hand. “Vergo is on that.”

Baby Five looked up, nodded, and looked down on the light phone again so she could note the change.

“We should have killed him when we had the chance.” Cora-san’s voice sounded stronger than what Baby Five was used to. He was particularly on edge today. Baby Five wasn’t surprised. They hadn’t caught any of the Eustass wolves yet.

“What we had in the mana lock was too occupied with Law and his fuck buddy to deal with it. And we couldn’t have made chase.”

“I was talking about Sir Crocodile.”

On another note, it was so strange that they were even talking about Sir Crocodile. Baby Five had subconsciously written him off as dead after he took Cora-san’s silence curse in full force. He lost a hand to the brothers. It was foolish of him to try and eat seven-year old Law and even more foolish to take on the Donquixote brothers at the same time. The Puppeteer and the Clown. Perhaps he thought Cora-san was a weakling and counted him for nothing. But honestly _ , _ who could blame him? No one would know that the sickly younger Donquixote brother was the most talented Silencer alive on the planet, unrivaled by anyone to this day. How could anyone know that the love that he bore for Law’s mother was the secret to his strength, his life, and ironically, his death?

_ Love does strange things to all creatures. It drives humans and demons mad. _

“Just how likely is it that Crocodile’s on this?” Cora-san’s question made Baby Five snap to attention. Oh, dear. Was he talking to her?

“Unlikely, to be honest.” Doflamingo sighed with a small shrug as he leaned back on his chair and studied the large map. “But dogs are stupid and stupid things know no fear. I’m not missing out a chance on getting an excuse to kill that mutt once and for all.”

“Contact his casters, then.”

The tone Cora-san took made Baby Five’s eyes flick towards her uncle for a split second if only for a glimpse of the face he was making. She didn’t see. Doflamingo clicked his tongue.

“And make it look like we can’t handle him on our own when we actually  _ can _ ?”

“It’s an emergen—”

“Stop calling everything about Law  _ an emergency _ .”

Another second of silence. Doflamingo cleared his throat. Cora-san turned to his niece.

“Anything from Law, Fai?”

 

“None at the moment.” Was her quick response. “I sent a text to Luffy, too, but I think he’s yet to see it.”

“Speaking of the lowlife, it’s time we address that.” Doflamingo sounded exasperated and disappointed. “Law has an  _ incubus _ . Who fucking walks around with a useless demon class as his only god damn familiar? Shameful.”

“It’s not like Law did it on purpose.” Cora-san’s voice was now calm and sure. “He isn’t a warlock. He can’t Perform.”

Doflamingo made a disgusted noise as he turned his head in a very annoyed arc.

“Of  _ course _ , Law can’t be classified as a warlock but do you seriously believe that Law is alive right now because  _ he can’t Perform _ ?” The head of the manor rested his weight on his right arm. “Do you really believe Law snared that  _ thing _ without Performing? Pray tell, Roci, if not Performance then  _ how _ ?”

“Demons have approached him before.” Cora-san replied unflustered like they’ve had this conversation before. “He hasn’t snared any of the previous ones. Luffy is an isolated case.”

_ Previous ones. _ Baby Five tried thinking back to how many strange creatures had posed to be Law’s friend or lover. Anyone—anything—that wasn’t a Humble that suspiciously went beyond acquaintance was… dealt with.

 

“That’s because we got rid of the cocky buggers.” Doflamingo slapped a large hand on the table. “And even if we didn’t, Law would end up killing them himself.”

“Law would never kill anyone.”

“Except his mother.” The man with the pointy shades tilted his head sarcastically at his brother across the room.

Baby Five looked at her sickly uncle. He was still sitting on the couch, unmoving, unfazed, unprovoked. His mana didn’t even flinch. At that point, Doflamingo sighed and laughed to himself, shaking his head.

“Or are you going to say he wasn’t responsible for Lea’s death because  _ he can’t perform _ ?”

Oh, there was her name. And  _ there _ was a small spike of emotion from Cora-san’s mana before it smoothened out again. Everyone knew how Cora-san hated it when  _ his brother  _ mentioned  _ her _ . Baby Five wished to be dismissed before they started arguing enough to make the air around them difficult to breathe.

“You know why Lea died, Doffy.”

His voice was still leveled but firm and oddly threatening, like the calm before a storm. But if Donquixote Doflamingo was afraid of anything, it wouldn’t be of this brewing storm.

“I do know, dear baby brother. She gave birth to Law.”

“You  _ know _ why she died.”

Cora-san stressed that word like he wasn’t going to let his brother deny anything. Baby Five bit her lip and looked at her feet. The mana circle continued to thrum like it didn’t want to be a part of this argument either.

Any talk about Aunt Lea’s death left a bitter taste in the back of Baby Five’s throat. This had been the case ever since she heard some older warlocks whispering about her aunt during a gathering for Law’s seventh birthday.

_ “She died giving birth to this child, didn’t she? If the rumors are true, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that giving birth to him, she couldn’t have lived?” _

_ “ _ If _ the rumors are true.” _

_ “Well, Lea had always been problematic.” _

What that meant exactly, Baby Five didn’t know then and she still didn’t know now.

“We both know why she died, Roci.” Doflamingo spoke again.  _ Childbirth _ . Baby Five thought but she didn’t lift her head to see what expression he was wearing as her uncle continued, “And all you’ve done since then is make horrendous decisions while dragging me along because I have no fucking  _ choice _ .”

“Lea would’ve wanted Law out of this mess.”

“This _ mess _ ?” Uncle Doffy sounded appalled. “This thing you call  _ ‘mess’ _  was founded on your beloved Lea’s handiwork. And _ you _ furthered it. With stupidity, if I might add. You think she’d like this? You think she’d be glad of what Law had become?”

“Oh, and  _ you  _ know what’s best for Law, Doffy? He’s—”

“A product of  _ research. _ ”

_ A what? _ Baby Five’s eyes tried to see as much of her uncles as she could without moving her head. Did he say Law was a product of  _ research _ ? She knew Law wasn’t a regular human but… But…

She wasn’t aware how she was holding her breath.

“Lea is his  _ mother _ .” A thick drop of anger found its way in the younger Donquixote’s voice. “She was pregnant with him,  _ gave birth _ to him.”

“And he  _ killed her _ .”

“Stop twisting the truth!” Cora-san was on his feet in an instant, his long legs striding towards his brother, faster than Baby Five thought he could travel. He was almost a blur. “ _ You _ killed her!”

Nothing in this world could have stopped Baby Five from lifting her head. Whatever expression was on her face, she didn’t care for either.

“No,  _ we _ killed her, Roci.” Doflamingo didn’t even bother to get up or shout back. “The _ system _ killed her. This _ world _ killed her.”

Killed.

_ Killed _ .

Aunt Lea was  _ killed _ ?!

“Shut up!” It was Cora-san’s turn to slam an angry palm on his brother’s desk. “I tried to do what I could even as you tried to brainwash our—”

 

_ Our? Their? Him and who? Their what? _ Baby Five was so stunned, even her surprise shut itself down. What were her uncles saying? She was aware that lords such as them had secrets of their own but she was inclined to think they would be more careful. Had they forgotten she was here?

Donquixote Doflamingo slowly leaned forward in a challenge.

“To brainwash your  _ what _ ?”

 

Doflamingo was the one seated and yet he seemed to be the one staring his younger brother down. And for a second, it seemed the color drained out of Cora-san’s already pale face.

“You will  _ leave _ Lea out of this.” Cora-san’s voice was a whisper and yet a sharper warning. “We’re no longer talking about this. I’ve had enough.”

There was a pause before the younger of the two lords headed back to the couch, rubbing between his eyebrows.

“Rocinante.“ Doflamingo called, his voice not giving anything away. “You don’t want him to hate you. That’s not possible.”

“ _ Enough _ , Doffy.” Cora-san was obviously  _ not _ amused but his brother didn’t seem to have any intention of hitting the brakes on this train.

“He  _ will _ hate you and the things you did and are still doing for the stupid feeling you call love.”

“What we did was—”

“What Lea would’ve wanted?” The blonde man behind the desk prodded on with his mocking tone. “Is that what you tell yourself every night as you touch yourself, Roci?”

“ _ I told you to leave her out of this! _ ” Donquixote Rocinante turned violently towards his brother. A gush of mana strongly sweept across the room, rustling their feathered cloaks and stealing some of Baby Five’s breathing space. While it wasn’t enough to wipe the smile off Doflamingo’s face, it was enough to make him stop talking. The faux candlelight flickered ominously. Baby Five took one step back. Only then did the younger Doflamingo acknowledge her with a quick glance. He said nothing and turned to his sibling behind the desk.

“You seem to be forgetting who you’re talking to,  _ Donquixote Doflamingo _ .” Cora-san lifted his head and Baby Five could only be wary of how his mana swirled heavily around his own brother.

“On the contrary, I speak this way  _ precisely _ because I know who I’m talking to.” Doflamingo remained unfazed. Cora-san glared harder at him until Doflamingo waved him off.

“This has been a pointless conversation, Roci. Do me a favor and get out of my office.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Donquixote Rocinante replied spitefully, turning towards his neice. “Fai and I were just about to leave, really.”

“B-but the…” She wanted to mention the presentation she was giving but Cora-san shook his head. All the girl could do was respond with a nod and was about to remove her floating visuals when her uncles told her to leave it be. She nodded quickly again, the symbols dying from beneath her feet and in her irises, leaving nothing but the floating light phone and the map with blinking dots.

“Law is the most precious gift that Lea’s left behind, Doffy.” Cora-san spoke lowly as he started towards where Baby Five was standing. “I’m not going to let you ruin what remains of his life.”

Doflamingo hummed curiously, two rows of teeth flashing like an omen.

“Fai.” Cora-san put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up. He was looking at her with sad, apologetic eyes. The girl was too light-headed to make any sense of it.

“Y-yes, uncle?”

That seemed to make him smile a little before he said, “Do forgive me.”

Huh?

“ _ Silent. _ ”

All around her, the world rang and cried and shouted in a million voices as a thousand hands reached into her mind, grabbing at her thoughts like it was digging for something she didn’t know. In the chaos of words that echoed in her consciousness, her last thought was a question.

_ Why did Aunt Lea truly die? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Again, sorry for the long wait! Issues have taken over my life or this would’ve been up earlier. Special thanks to [Venatorphile](http://venatorphile.tumblr.com) for helping me proofread this chapter. 
> 
> My tumblr is [@xairylle](http://xairylle.tumblr.com) in case you want to see my other work. There are fanfic drabbles there, too. Ah, and I’m also [on Twitter as @xairylle_art](https://twitter.com/xairylle_art). I’ve been there a while now but I’ve only recently started being active.
> 
> And finally, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Thanks, guys!


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